21 books like Understanding Animal Welfare

By David Fraser,

Here are 21 books that Understanding Animal Welfare fans have personally recommended if you like Understanding Animal Welfare. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Putting the Horse before Descartes: My Life's Work on Behalf of Animals

Alan M. Goldberg Author Of Feeding the World Well: A Framework for Ethical Food Systems

From my list on human animal welfare industrial food production.

Why am I passionate about this?

Professionally, I am a Professor of Toxicology (Emeritus) at the Johns Hopkins University. I devoted my professional career to improving the science of toxicology by developing a program that evaluated risk using non-animal methods. As such, I founded The JHU Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT). In addition, I spent the latter part of my career on Food Ethics. In short, my life work was devoted to animals and better foods. In 2022, the American Visionary Art Museum of Baltimore awarded me an Ambassador of Compassion. 

Alan's book list on human animal welfare industrial food production

Alan M. Goldberg Why did Alan love this book?

Bernie, of blessed memory, provides ways to think about animal welfare and Animal Husbandry and its impact on food quality. Bernie argues that we have lost the concept of animal husbandry except in smaller, individually run farms. CAFOs have become so large and industrialized that they can no longer house their animals, resulting in poorer conditions that matter to the animals and ultimately impact human health. This book outshines the best of the best books on what an animal needs and wants. 


By Bernard Rollin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Putting the Horse before Descartes as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A pioneer in animal ethics tells his story


Book cover of You Can't Market Manure at Lunchtime: And Other Lessons from the Food Industry for Creating a More Sustainable Company

Alan M. Goldberg Author Of Feeding the World Well: A Framework for Ethical Food Systems

From my list on human animal welfare industrial food production.

Why am I passionate about this?

Professionally, I am a Professor of Toxicology (Emeritus) at the Johns Hopkins University. I devoted my professional career to improving the science of toxicology by developing a program that evaluated risk using non-animal methods. As such, I founded The JHU Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT). In addition, I spent the latter part of my career on Food Ethics. In short, my life work was devoted to animals and better foods. In 2022, the American Visionary Art Museum of Baltimore awarded me an Ambassador of Compassion. 

Alan's book list on human animal welfare industrial food production

Alan M. Goldberg Why did Alan love this book?

Maisie has more than 30 years of experience working with Bon Appetite to develop sustainable food production on a grand scale. I believe that the methods she and Fedele Bauccio developed are the future of sustainable and great foo systems. It's a great and fun read with wonderful stories. This book provides a clear path to sustainability and good food.

By Maisie Ganzler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked You Can't Market Manure at Lunchtime as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Five invaluable lessons for doing sustainability right, doing it profitably, and getting the credit you deserve.

Did the title of this book get your attention? Good. Because as silly as it is, the idea behind it is serious, earnest, and authentic: you can't become a sustainable operation if you're doing the right things in the wrong place or at the wrong time.

Many businesses are in the dark about how to actually do better for the planet and the people in their company and their supply chain while also growing their margin. Some believe it can't be done. But it…


Book cover of Unsavory Truth: How Food Companies Skew the Science of What We Eat

Alan M. Goldberg Author Of Feeding the World Well: A Framework for Ethical Food Systems

From my list on human animal welfare industrial food production.

Why am I passionate about this?

Professionally, I am a Professor of Toxicology (Emeritus) at the Johns Hopkins University. I devoted my professional career to improving the science of toxicology by developing a program that evaluated risk using non-animal methods. As such, I founded The JHU Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT). In addition, I spent the latter part of my career on Food Ethics. In short, my life work was devoted to animals and better foods. In 2022, the American Visionary Art Museum of Baltimore awarded me an Ambassador of Compassion. 

Alan's book list on human animal welfare industrial food production

Alan M. Goldberg Why did Alan love this book?

This book deals with conflicts of Interest in the food world and industrial influence on academic research. You can’t make this stuff up. One issue highlighted by the Pew Commission on “Putting Meat on the Table”—which Marion and I were both part of—was conflict of interest. In this book, Marion describes the range and impact of these conflicts of interest on the quality of the information used for nutritional information. It is scary.   

By Marion Nestle,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Unsavory Truth as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Whenever we turn on the TV, flip a page in a magazine, or glance at a flyer in the grocery store, we are constantly bombarded with nutritional advice. Almond products can boost your memory! Milk helps build up your bones! Cereal is part of a doctor-approved balanced breakfast for growing girls and boys! Study after study tells us what we should eat, how much, and when. Words like "superfood" and "guilt free" convince us that we're making the right choice when we pluck an item off the shelf and head for the checkout line. We count on nutrition science to…


Book cover of Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed

Alan M. Goldberg Author Of Feeding the World Well: A Framework for Ethical Food Systems

From my list on human animal welfare industrial food production.

Why am I passionate about this?

Professionally, I am a Professor of Toxicology (Emeritus) at the Johns Hopkins University. I devoted my professional career to improving the science of toxicology by developing a program that evaluated risk using non-animal methods. As such, I founded The JHU Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT). In addition, I spent the latter part of my career on Food Ethics. In short, my life work was devoted to animals and better foods. In 2022, the American Visionary Art Museum of Baltimore awarded me an Ambassador of Compassion. 

Alan's book list on human animal welfare industrial food production

Alan M. Goldberg Why did Alan love this book?

The classic and most influential book on Animal Welfare update. Peter is regarded as the father of Animal Welfare, and his influence has been exceptional. This book presents a detailed account of Industrial animal food production. Peter provides an understanding of Industrial Farm Animal Production with details that provide clarity. Caution: You may change your eating habits.  

By Peter Singer,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Animal Liberation Now as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

THE UPDATED CLASSIC OF THE ANIMAL RIGHTS MOVEMENT, NOW WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY YUVAL NOAH HARARI

“The indispensable foundational text for the movement, new and updated with the honesty and philosophical depth characteristic of all of Singer’s work.” —J.M. Coetzee, author of The Lives of Animals and Disgrace

“Peter Singer may be the most controversial philosopher alive; he is certainly among the most influential.”—The New Yorker

Few books maintain their relevance – and have remained continuously in print – nearly 50 years after they were first published. Animal Liberation, one of TIME’s “All-TIME 100 Best Non-Fiction Books” is one such…


Book cover of Animals in Space: From Research Rockets to the Space Shuttle

Nick Abadzis Author Of Laika

From my list on the Soviet space program.

Why am I passionate about this?

I wrote and drew a book about the Russian dog called Laika, the first living being to go into orbit around the planet Earth. Part of the conception of this book was that I wanted to create a graphic novel that almost anyone could read - a comic for people who might not usually read comics. It had to be accessible - you didn’t have to be steeped in comics lore, geek culture or space history to find your way into it. I've been creating books, magazines, comics, and stories for both adults and children for more than thirty-five years, with work published all over the world. 

Nick's book list on the Soviet space program

Nick Abadzis Why did Nick love this book?

This book came out right after I completed Laika, but I wish I’d been able to use it in my research (although Dubbs’ earlier book, Space Dogs: Pioneers in Space Travel was extremely useful).

If Siddiqi’s book focuses more on the human journey behind the Soviet space program, this is a parallel account of some other unwitting (and undersung) pioneers: the experimental animals who were sent ahead of humankind. We share this world with animals and they were dispatched on our behalf to test the deep waters of the heavens also. It was thought - correctly - that if they could survive, so could we. Laika may very well be the most famous of these pathfinders (at least beyond Russia), but there were many more. This book is a history of all those other animal astronauts launched into space both prior to Laika and aboard more recent missions.

By Chris Dubbs, Colin Burgess,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Animals in Space as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book is as a detailed, but highly readable and balanced account of the history of animal space flights carried out by all nations, but principally the United States and the Soviet Union. It explores the ways in which animal high-altitude and space flight research impacted on space flight biomedicine and technology, and how the results - both successful and disappointing - allowed human beings to then undertake that same hazardous journey with far greater understanding and confidence. This complete and authoritative book will undoubtedly become the ultimate authority on animal space flights.


Book cover of The Daughter of Doctor Moreau

Daniel Olivas Author Of Chicano Frankenstein

From my list on books by BIPOC writers that will scare the living daylights out of you.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my 25 years of writing short stories, novels, and plays, I have explored my Mexican and Chicano roots in a variety of genres, from literary fiction to horror to magical realism to science fiction and everything in between. In the end, I do not discriminate when it comes to genre because a well-told story is key for me, regardless of the mode chosen by the author. My most recent novel, Chicano Frankenstein, is a case in point. In it, I blend genres: horror, science fiction, political satire, and a bit of romance. So, too, I love reading fiction that bravely challenges conventional storytelling.

Daniel's book list on books by BIPOC writers that will scare the living daylights out of you

Daniel Olivas Why did Daniel love this book?

H.G. Wells’s The Island of Doctor Moreau, published in 1896, is one of his most intriguing—and frightening. Moreau has created human hybrid beings via surgical experimentation on live animals.

In Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s retelling of the Wells classic, she goes further than the original’s philosophical themes by exploring the political, sociological, and cultural conflicts that arise from colorism, colonialism, and sexism.

In a fascinating twist on Wells’s narrative, she sets her novel in 19th-century Mexico during the Caste War of Yucatán, when the indigenous Maya people rebelled against the Mexicans and Europeans who subjugated them to work their ranches and farms. 

She also centers much of her tale on Moreau’s hybrid beings. It is, quite simply, a thrilling novel that is as horrifying as it is thought-provoking.

By Silvia Moreno-Garcia,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Daughter of Doctor Moreau as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

From the New York Times bestselling author of Mexican Gothic and Velvet Was the Night comes a dreamy reimagining of The Island of Doctor Moreau set against the backdrop of nineteenth-century Mexico.

'ONE OF THE MOST ANTICIPATED BOOKS OF 2022' - She Reads

'The imagination of Silvia Moreno-Garcia is a thing of wonder, restless and romantic, fearless in the face of genre, embracing the polarities of storytelling' - New York Times

Carlota Moreau: A young woman, growing up in a distant and luxuriant estate, safe from the conflict and strife of the Yucatan peninsula, the only daughter of a genius…


Book cover of The Island of Doctor Moreau

Kate Rhodes Author Of Hell Bay

From my list on the scariest books set on tiny claustrophobic islands.

Why am I passionate about this?

My passion for small islands began as a child. I spent my summer holidays on the Isles of Scilly, where everyone knew each other, and the sea wiped the landscape clean, leaving it pristine each morning. Since then, I’ve visited dozens of islands, keen to understand the islanders’ survivalist mindset. I worked as an English teacher before becoming a writer. It allowed me to share my love of storytelling, but the tales that linger with me still take place on small islands where the consequences of our actions are never forgotten. I hope you enjoy exploring the ones on my list as much as I did!

Kate's book list on the scariest books set on tiny claustrophobic islands

Kate Rhodes Why did Kate love this book?

I loved this book because it was so gripping. It made me long to be a writer. Although it was written over a hundred years ago, the dark story spoke directly to me.

I read it at the darkest time in my life. I was fourteen, and my alcoholic father had become a terrifying force in our home, just like Dr. Moreau, who rules his island with vicious power. I had never dreamed that a crazed leader could break an entire population, but the idea seems shockingly prescient now.

The book made me realize that I, too, could escape from the trap around me, just like the book’s hero, and learn to use my imagination to tell stories.

By H.G. Wells,

Why should I read it?

8 authors picked The Island of Doctor Moreau as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 11, 12, 13, and 14.

What is this book about?

The Island of Doctor Moreau has inspired countless homages in literature, film and television.


Book cover of The Plague Dogs

Tui Allen Author Of Ripple: A Dolphin Love Story

From my list on animal stories for love of our planet.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’m a teacher, sailor, kayaker, and environmental-vegan animal lover. I live by the sea among marine wildlife. I grew up sailing, then sailed the Pacific on the tiny wooden boat that was my first marital home. We had no engine, no modern technology. Like the sea beings, we had a wing in the wind and a fin in the sea so we lived in their world, on their terms. Alone, helming under the stars, I dreamed of dolphin culture and mentally made lists of possible dolphin vocations. This helped me create fiction from the dolphin viewpoint. Input from scientists brought authenticity to my marine environmental fantasies and messages. 

Tui's book list on animal stories for love of our planet

Tui Allen Why did Tui love this book?

Richard Adams himself signed my copy of this book when he visited New Zealand long ago. If he hadn’t looked deep into my eyes at the time and promised me it had a happy ending I might never have made it to the end, so harrowing was the story. But I finished it and he was right. The story questions the ethics of human exploitation of animals. To me, Plague Dogs was his greatest work, far more important than Watership Down, and certainly no children’s book. Adams is a true master at presenting the animal's point of view. This book hit me like a sledgehammer and like Watership Down, it beautifully evoked the natural world of its setting.

By Richard Adams,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Plague Dogs as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Two dogs, Snitter and Rowf, escape from a research laboratory in the Lake District where it is wrongly supposed they have been purposely infected with a deadly virus and now pose a dangerous threat to the human population. As the authorities give chase, the two friends make their way through the hills and across the moors, along the way learning to survive on their wits and finding friendship and help from a fox they encounter. They dream of finding their original owners and a safe haven - but the hunt is on.

A lyrical and engrossing tale, The Plague Dogs…


Book cover of The Rosie Effect

Jacqueline Friedland Author Of That's Not a Thing

From my list on contemporary romance set in Manhattan.

Why am I passionate about this?

As someone who’s been born and raised in and around the suburbs of Manhattan, I have a love-hate relationship with the city. I crave the excitement it offers but then gets frustrated by its drawbacks- the crowds, the dirt, the noise, the expense, the pressure. But then you crack open the pages of a romance story, and the allure of Manhattan and the surrounding boroughs is undeniable. Anything is possible in New York City.

Jacqueline's book list on contemporary romance set in Manhattan

Jacqueline Friedland Why did Jacqueline love this book?

You’ve probably read The Rosie Project, but have you read the prequel? I’ve always been a sucker for back story and what happened before the moment a movie or novel starts. Well, that’s what you get in The Rosie Effect. And even better, its setting in the vibrant and thrilling New York City only adds to the romance and excitement in this beautiful romantic comedy.

By Graeme Simsion,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Rosie Effect as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Sink into the joyously weird and wonderful next chapter of Don and Rosie, in Graeme Simsion's unmissable sequel to the bestselling The Rosie Project!

'Touching and entertaining' Mail on Sunday
___________

Forty-one-year-old geneticist Don Tillman had never had a second date before he met Rosie.

Now, living in New York City, they have survived ten months and ten days of marriage, even if Don has had to sacrifice standardised meals and embrace unscheduled sex.

But then Rosie drops the mother of all bombshells. And Don must prepare for the biggest challenge of his previously ordered life - at the same…


Book cover of Animal Rights: Political and Social Change in Britain Since 1800

Keri Cronin Author Of Art for Animals

From my list on animal history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am a historian of visual culture, and my work explores the ways images can shape and challenge dominant ideas about other species. The ways we choose to represent certain animals (or not) can have important consequences, both in terms of environmental issues but also in terms of the wellbeing of individual animals. Digging deeper into these histories can make us aware that the categories we like to put animals in can shift and change depending on the time period and place. As we confront increasingly urgent climate and environmental issues, understanding these dynamics will be even more important than ever.

Keri's book list on animal history

Keri Cronin Why did Keri love this book?

I found this to be a hard list to put together because there are so many excellent books on animal history--on any given day I could have presented a completely different list. However, this was the one book that absolutely had to be on my list. Hilda Kean’s Animal Rights was the book that started me on this journey. I first encountered this book when I was a grad student, and it has shaped my thinking on animal history in many important ways over the years. Animals and concerns for their welfare have always been important to me in my personal life, but I hadn’t thought about incorporating human-animal histories into my scholarship until I read this book. It was a real game-changer for me. This is a very good introduction to some of the shifts in thinking that took place regarding relationships between humans and nonhuman animals in Britain…

By Hilda Kean,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Animal Rights as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the early twenty-first century animals are news. Parliamentary debates, protests against fox hunting and television programmes like Animal Hospital all focus on the way in which we treat animals and on what that says about our own humanity. As vegetarianism becomes ever more popular, and animal experimentation more controversial, it is time to trace the background to contemporary debates and to situate them in a broader historical context. Hilda Kean looks at the cultural and social role of animals from 1800 to the present at the way in which visual images and myths captured the popular imagination and encouraged…


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