No Animals Were Harmed: The Controversial Line between Entertainment and Abuse

by Peter Laufer University of Oregon

Overview

Investigative journalist Peter Laufer is back with his third book in a trilogy that explores the way we humans interact with animals. The attack of a trainer at Sea World by a killer whale in February 2010 is the catalyst for this examination of the controversial role animals have played in the human arenas of entertainment and sports.

From the Romans throwing Christians to lions to cock-fighting in present-day California, from abusive Mexican circuses to the thrills of a Hungarian counterpart, from dog training to shooting strays in the Baghdad streets, Laufer looks at the ways people have used animals for their pleasure. The reader travels with Laufer as he encounters fascinating people and places, and as he ponders the ethical questions that arise from his quest.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780762777181
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	10/18/2011
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	272
File size:	491 KB

About the Author

Peter Laufer, PhD, is the award-winning author of more than a dozen books, including the widely praised The Dangerous World of Butterflies, Forbidden Creatures, and Neon Nevada (all Lyons Press), as well as Wetback Nation: The Case for Opening the Mexican-American Border.  He is the James Wallace Chair in Journalism at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication.  Visit him at peterlaufer.com.

Read an Excerpt

“Where is the line that separates animal use from abuse?
The more I read, the more I observed, the more animals—human and nonhuman—I met, the more it seemed to me that a possum was pointing me toward my conclusion. ‘We have met the enemy,’ Pogo taught us, ‘and he is us.’ Even the one thing I wanted to promise the reader as I embarked on this project—that no animals were harmed by me during the writing of this book—proved an impossible task.”
—From the Prologue

Editorial Reviews

A provocative examination of the fine line between the use and abuse of animals. In a continuation of his study on the interaction of animals and humans, Laufer (Journalism/Univ. of Oregon; Forbidden Creatures: Inside the World of Animal Smuggling and Exotic Pets, 2010, etc.) opens the doors to the complex world of animal service and exploitation. What is the difference between use, misuse and abuse of animals? How does a person know an animal is actually enjoying itself? Do animals feel pain? Does a chicken raised specifically for meat suffer more or less at its death than a rooster raised specifically for cock fights? Is a circus act entertainment for humans or an enslavement of animals? These are some of the many troubling questions the author poses as he travels the world searching for answers. From a lion handler in Budapest to whale shows at SeaWorld to slaughterhouses in California, Laufer graphically details firsthand the varied ways humans and animals interact. Descriptions of canned hunts, dairy-cow abuse, vivisection and many examples of cockfights force readers to ponder the same questions as the author. Interviews with members of the Humane Society, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and numerous animal-rights organizations counterbalance interviews with breeders of fighting cocks, arsonists and many others who see no harm in how they treat animals. Laufer's compelling evidence will push readers to assess the distinctions between love and mistreatment among our animal brethren.

Kirkus Reviews