Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses
A thought-provoking and surprising book that explores the ever-evolving relationship between humans and domesticated animals.

The domestication of animals changed the course of human history. But what about the animals who abandoned their wild existence in exchange for our care and protection? Domestication has proven to be a wildly successful survival strategy. But this success has not been without its drawbacks. A modern dairy cow’s daily energy output equals that of a Tour de France rider. Feral cats overpopulate urban areas. And our methods of breeding horses and dogs have resulted in debilitating and sometimes lethal genetic diseases. But these problems and more can be addressed, if we have the will and the compassion.

Human values and choices determine an animal’s lot in life even before he or she is born. Just as a sculptor’s hands shape clay, so human values shape our animals—for good and or ill. The little-examined, yet omnipresent act of breeding lies at the core of Gavin Ehringer's eye-opening book. You’ll meet cows cloned from steaks, a Quarter horse stallion valued at $7.5 million, Chinese dogs that glow in the dark, and visit a Denver cat show featuring naked cats and other cuddly mutants. Is this what the animals bargained for all those millennia ago, when they first joined us by the fire?
1126905823
Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses
A thought-provoking and surprising book that explores the ever-evolving relationship between humans and domesticated animals.

The domestication of animals changed the course of human history. But what about the animals who abandoned their wild existence in exchange for our care and protection? Domestication has proven to be a wildly successful survival strategy. But this success has not been without its drawbacks. A modern dairy cow’s daily energy output equals that of a Tour de France rider. Feral cats overpopulate urban areas. And our methods of breeding horses and dogs have resulted in debilitating and sometimes lethal genetic diseases. But these problems and more can be addressed, if we have the will and the compassion.

Human values and choices determine an animal’s lot in life even before he or she is born. Just as a sculptor’s hands shape clay, so human values shape our animals—for good and or ill. The little-examined, yet omnipresent act of breeding lies at the core of Gavin Ehringer's eye-opening book. You’ll meet cows cloned from steaks, a Quarter horse stallion valued at $7.5 million, Chinese dogs that glow in the dark, and visit a Denver cat show featuring naked cats and other cuddly mutants. Is this what the animals bargained for all those millennia ago, when they first joined us by the fire?
27.95 Out Of Stock
Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses

Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses

by Gavin Ehringer
Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses

Leaving the Wild: The Unnatural History of Dogs, Cats, Cows, and Horses

by Gavin Ehringer

Hardcover

$27.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Temporarily Out of Stock Online
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

A thought-provoking and surprising book that explores the ever-evolving relationship between humans and domesticated animals.

The domestication of animals changed the course of human history. But what about the animals who abandoned their wild existence in exchange for our care and protection? Domestication has proven to be a wildly successful survival strategy. But this success has not been without its drawbacks. A modern dairy cow’s daily energy output equals that of a Tour de France rider. Feral cats overpopulate urban areas. And our methods of breeding horses and dogs have resulted in debilitating and sometimes lethal genetic diseases. But these problems and more can be addressed, if we have the will and the compassion.

Human values and choices determine an animal’s lot in life even before he or she is born. Just as a sculptor’s hands shape clay, so human values shape our animals—for good and or ill. The little-examined, yet omnipresent act of breeding lies at the core of Gavin Ehringer's eye-opening book. You’ll meet cows cloned from steaks, a Quarter horse stallion valued at $7.5 million, Chinese dogs that glow in the dark, and visit a Denver cat show featuring naked cats and other cuddly mutants. Is this what the animals bargained for all those millennia ago, when they first joined us by the fire?

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781681775562
Publisher: Pegasus Books
Publication date: 12/05/2017
Pages: 336
Product dimensions: 6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.50(d)

About the Author

Award-winning journalist Gavin Ehringer is a former cowboy, a horseman, and a dog trainer. He's written for a wide range of animal publications, including Western Horseman, The Chronicle of the Horse, Dog Fancy, Dogster, and is the author of five animal-related books over a career that spans thirty years. He lives in Colorado Springs.

Table of Contents

Introduction ix

Dogs 1

1 A Wolf Among Men 3

2 The Generic Dog 14

3 The First Breeders 26

4 England Goes to the Dogs 36

5 A Breed is Born 54

6 Pity the Pit Bull 74

7 Let Sleeping Dogs Lie 96

Cats 115

8 Of Mice and Men (And Cats) 117

9 Cat Cult Culture 124

10 Putting the Evil in Medieval 135

11 Catching a Break 149

12 Life in the Great Indoors 155

13 Alley Cat Blues 166

14 Fancy Cats 185

Cows 195

15 The Cheeseburger: A Natural History 197

16 Sex and the Single Cow 202

17 Frankencattle? 213

18 Three Dairies, Act One: The Raw Deal 228

19 Three Dairies, Act Two: Cows in the Machine 240

20 Three Dairies, Act Three: Emerald Pastures 253

21 The Moo-Niverse 269

Horses 281

22 Life on a Horse Ranch 283

23 In the Beginning 289

24 Horses and Humans 294

25 When Horsemen Ruled the World 299

26 Arabians, From Breed to Greed 307

27 The All-American Horse 319

Conclusion 335

A Baker's Dozen Best Practices of Pet Animal Breeders 343

Acknowledgments 345

Index 347

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews