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In the Company of Animals

This is a lovely book, a little flawed and dated, yes, but a book with heart, that makes you prick up your ears and think. Serpell's examination of relationships between humans and other animals first came out in 1986, and much of what he argues has become mainstream in Europe and the US since then. He contrasts, for example, the pampering of pets with the miserable lives of intensively farmed animals. There is now far more consumer awareness of our responsibilities towards the animals we eat. Some folks, of course, solve the problem by not eating meat at all, but most humans like some meat in their diets, and these days, more of us aim to buy meat from animals which could enjoy a good quality of life before they were sacrificed to fill our stomachs. It is useful to read 'In the Company of Animals' together with Temple Grandin's 'Animals in Translation, because Temple Grandin faces up to and tackles many of the moral issues posed by James Serpell. A key issue, she argues, is that if we have to kill animals to eat them, they should have as stress-free a death as possible.

James Serpell identifies some of the mechanisms that humans use to kill animals without feeling guilt, and he shows how we use the same mechanism to behave badly towards other humans. Domestic animals reared for slaughter are not given names, for example, just as concentration camp inmates were denied the identity that a name provides. Christian doctrine has proclaimed that animals have no souls, so they are on earth to be used by humans. Animals sacrificed in different religious rituals may be blamed for committing crimes, or the person who kills them may claim that it is the Gods who command the death, the fault is not with the executioner. It is worthwhile, Serpell argues, being aware of the self-deceptions used by humans to justify ill treating animals, partly because of the serious dangers that arise when we apply these same self-deceptions to other humans.

Pets have a privileged position compared with other domestic animals. They have names, we show them affection and often treat them as if they were part of the family. Serpell presents a case against pets, for example he recognises that there are people who privilege their pets above their own children, but, on balance, he sees the relationship between people and their pets as mutually beneficial. Having contact with pets can make us happier and more relaxed, and also improve our relationship with other humans.

Serpell is a zoologist who has ventured into social anthropology, and he finds that all sorts of societies have pets. Even hunter gatherer societies enjoy the company of animals which serve no obvious purpose. Having a pet is not just a feature of affluent, developed societies (though buying large pedigree dogs as though they were luxury consumer dogs is a feature of certain affluent societies). Keeping pets is part of our history as humans.

Hunter gatherers have tended to respect the animals they hunt. Farmers, in contrast, have tended to emphasise dominating and subduing nature, and Serpell presents a very gloomy picture of moving from a hunter gatherer society to a farming society. He is certainly correct that farming can be very destructive. It can turn verdant havens into deserts. When animals are treated simply as sources of meat or milk, with no concern for their welfare, this undermines our humanity, including our ability to treat other humans decently. However, good farming practice includes nourishing the soil, conserving trees, and understanding the needs of sheep, cattle and pigs enough to provide them with contented lives - issues that have received more attention in Europe and the US since Serpell wrote In the Company of Animals.

Most of what Serpell has to say about pets, however, fits with what most pet owners feel intuitively. Yes we do have to use common sense, to be considerate of non-pet owners, and to remember that cats, dogs, and other animals that we keep as pets have non-human needs and perceptions. They are not substitute children, but special in their own right. Yes, it is arbitrary and unfair that some species of animals, such as pigs and even dogs may either be cossetted and treated with affection, or confined in cramped conditions and slaughtered for food. Caring for pets can make us more human, but we are not fully human, in the best sense of the word, until we can face up to the responsibilities posed by animals destined to become human food.

It is a measure of the strength of this book that so much of it reads like common sense now, more than two decades after it was written. Serpell has been overtaken by some of the more extreme (and to pragmatic British observers) overly ideological stances in the US, and to a lesser extent in Europe. Views that the very term 'pet' is degrading for animals, and that animals should not be kept as pets for the animals' sake, miss the point that Serpell makes, that such relationships can be mutually beneficial. Draconian laws imposing the compulsory pre-pubertal neutering of pets, with all the health risks that this implies for them, tend to shock Europeans. Our relationships with animals reflect the societies we live in. Societies where it is common to perceive puppies as consumer items will tend to end up with an overpopulation of adult dogs. Legislation restricting certain breeds in both the US and Europe reflects both a trend to purchase large breed dogs as luxury consumers items, with little thought for the responsibilities involved, and the fears of non-dog- owners, who are less used to meeting large dogs these days, and so are more likely to interpret the approach of a large dog as threatening.

Dated this book may be, but it is a little gem, which deserves to be preserved, perhaps with a longer introduction on how it fits into developments since 1986. Highly recommended.

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Animals in Translation

Temple Grandin

Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New Ed edition (1 May 2006)

ISBN-10: 0747566690

ISBN-13: 978-0747566694

This is a very lively exploration of how animals perceive the world, think and feel, and of special animal talents. It has helpful insights for people caring for animals, especially cattle, sheep and pigs. The author, Temple Grandin, also explores ways in which austistic people see the world, and similarities between autistic perceptions and the perceptions of animals.

Grandin is herself autistic. This has been both a handicap and a gift. She is able to perceive details that normal people miss, and which animals notice. One of her achievements has been to reduce stress levels for animals going to slaughter. She both likes cattle, and likes eating meat, and figures that the least we can do is to make animals' last moments as stress-free as possible.

People have a huge responsibility towards domestic animals, Grandin stresses, because we control their enviornment. This control includes selection pressures on animals. Breeders selecting for particular physical traits, such as fast weight gain, or appearance, may change other traits, and can even create animals with emotional and behavioural problems. This was the case of the rapist roosters, where courtship genetic information was accidentally deleted, leading to dead hens, killed by roosters which no longer knew how to court them, and killed them in attempts to mate. Breeders may not notice the unintended emotional consequences because they are focusing on physical, rather than emotional traits.

A great strength of this book is the way that Grandin draws on different fields of academic knowledge, her practical experience of working with animals, and insights from being autistic. The tone of the book is thoughtful and conversational. It is not a book for people who like to see 'science' as cut and dried.

No-one can cover as much ground as Grandin does without making mistakes. On some issues she is just plain wrong, for example, her tendency to overgeneralise about mutts, or mongrel dogs, and to forget how much they can vary in terms of health and temperament. In a curious way, this weakness is also a strength, in that readers are forced to think about the ideas that she presents, rather than accepting them passively as coming from a higher plane.

The book is very accessible, with a mix of anecdote and hard science. It is often funny and moving, and is a gripping account of animals perceptions and motivations. It is highly recommended both for pet owners and livestock farmers, as well as for anyone curious about human perceptions and motivations.

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