Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals
How can we give animals the best life—for them? What does an animal need to be happy? In her groundbreaking, best-selling book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her experience as an animal scientist to deliver extraordinary insights into the science of animal emotions and how animals think, act, and feel. Now she builds on those insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest life—on their terms, not ours. Knowing what causes animals physical pain is usually easy, but pinpointing emotional distress is much harder. Drawing on the latest research and her own work, Grandin identifies the core emotional needs that drive animal behavior and then explains how to fulfill the specific needs of dogs and cats, horses, farm animals, zoo animals, and even wildlife. Whether it’s how to make the healthiest environment for the dog you must leave alone most of the day, how to keep pigs from being bored, or how to know if the lion pacing in the zoo is miserable or just exercising, Grandin teaches us to challenge our assumptions about animal contentment and honor our bond with our fellow creatures.
Animals Make Us Human is the culmination of almost thirty years of research, experimentation, and experience in animal welfare. This is essential reading for anyone who’s ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.
This essential guide to animal welfare translates decades of research into practical actions you can take today:
Core Emotional Needs: Learn to identify the four core emotional systems that drive the behavior of every animal, from your family dog to a lion in a zoo.
Autism and Animal Perception: See the world as animals do through Temple Grandin’s unique perspective, which uses insights from her own autism to decode how animals perceive and feel.
Enriched Environments: Go beyond basic care to create environments that fulfill an animal’s mental and emotional needs, whether it’s keeping a pig from being bored or a horse from being spooked.
Species-Specific Advice: Find practical, science-backed solutions for a wide range of animals, including dogs and cats, horses, farm animals, and even wildlife.
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Description
Review
Praise for Animals Make Us Human
“Provocative…We’re lucky to have Temple Grandin.” -New York Times
“Part owner’s manual and part business proposal, Animals Make Us Human argues that we can treat animals better if we consider the emotions that motivate them…For pet owners, her perspecitve is invaluable…Grade: A-” – Entertainment Weekly
A well-written, down-to-earth look into the lives of lots of animals, including animals that make up part of our food chain. Grade: A” – Rocky Mountain News
“Packed with fascinating insights, unexpected observations and a wealth of how-to tips, Grandin’s peppy work ably challenges assumptions about what makes animals happy.” – STARRED Publishers Weekly
“The text provides thought-provoking scenarios and references several animal studies…readers will be able to glean new perspectives about animal welfare.” -Library Journal
Praise for Animals in Translation
Inspiring . . . Crammed with facts and anecdotes about Temple Grandin’s favorite subject: the senses, brains, emotions, and amazing talents of animals.” New York Times Book Review
A master intermediary between humans and our fellow beasts . . . At once hilarious, fascinating, and just plain weird, Animals is one of those rare books that elicits a wow’ on almost every page. A.” Entertainment Weekly…
About the Author
CATHERINE JOHNSON, Ph.D., is a writer specializing in neuropsychiatry and the brain. She cowrote Animals in Translation and served as a trustee of the National Alliance for Autism Research for seven years. She lives with her husband and three sons—two of whom have autism—in New York.
TEMPLE GRANDIN is one of the world’s most accomplished and well known adults with autism. She has a PhD in animal science from the University of Illinois and is a professor at Colorado State University. She is the author of four previous books, including the national bestsellers Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation. Dr. Grandin is a past member of the board of directors of the Autism Society of America. She lectures to parents and teachers throughout the United States on her experiences with autism. Most recently she was named one of Time magazine’s 100 most influential people of the year. The HBO movie based on her life, starring Claire Danes, received seven Emmy Awards.
