Reviews
Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals, by Catherine Johnson, Temple Grandin
auntblh's review against another edition
4.0
It was great book about what we can do to make the lives of animals (pets, livestock, food animals, zoo animals). It was interesting how some of the behavior problems are not caused by what you think they might be. I knew that pigs were clever but I guess I didn't realize how clever until reading that chapter. The book was well written and easy to understand.
inthecommonhours's review against another edition
3.0
I didn't read all the chapters, focusing mainly on the dog chapter. Fascinating and very unique view. I really wonder whether the human-dog relationship will continue.
linda48's review against another edition
5.0
I cannot explain how much I admire Temple Grandin. Had to put that out there.
I wish this book had been written when we owned horses - I would have understood a lot more about their behavior and why they developed their stereotypies.
One caveat: Parts of this book are not suitable for bedtime reading. Sections may lead to deranged nightmares.
I wish this book had been written when we owned horses - I would have understood a lot more about their behavior and why they developed their stereotypies.
One caveat: Parts of this book are not suitable for bedtime reading. Sections may lead to deranged nightmares.
krismoon's review against another edition
5.0
This is a must-read for every human.
While I didn’t find much of the information surprising when it came to dogs and cats, I found Temple’s experiences and observations fascinating when it came to farm animals. Especially in her final thoughts section. I wondered why she helped design slaughter houses when she believes in such care and ethical treatment of animals. She says it’s because if we believe in the ethical treatment of animals, we must care about their inevitable deaths, and those, too, must be ethical. Because the meat industry isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Temple is using her time and energy in doing what she can in this time period - making sure both life and death of animals is humane and even good.
While I didn’t find much of the information surprising when it came to dogs and cats, I found Temple’s experiences and observations fascinating when it came to farm animals. Especially in her final thoughts section. I wondered why she helped design slaughter houses when she believes in such care and ethical treatment of animals. She says it’s because if we believe in the ethical treatment of animals, we must care about their inevitable deaths, and those, too, must be ethical. Because the meat industry isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, Temple is using her time and energy in doing what she can in this time period - making sure both life and death of animals is humane and even good.
minvanwin's review against another edition
4.0
My dog's emotional health took a dramatic turn for the worse when we moved a few weeks ago. After her extreme separation anxiety induced panic attack, I needed answers on what was going on in her fragile little head. Most dog books I found are boring training manuals. They focus on animal behaviors and rehash lessons from doggy obedience class 101. Grandin's book is so different in that respect. She focuses on the emotional systems underlying animals' behaviors. Grandin provides insights into what humans can do to understand and better meet their pets' complex emotional needs. I came for the dogs because of issues in my personal life. But I stayed for the cats, horses, cows, pigs, poultry, wildlife, and zoo animals because of Grandin's deep respect for animals, strong sense of ethics, and thought-provoking ideas.
cheryl6of8's review against another edition
4.0
A fascinating look at animal behavior and the basic emotions that drive it. (If anyone out there thinks that animals don't feel emotion, well, they need to spend some time in a small room with an angry raccoon.) By showing the whys and wherefores of reactions and how to read the reactions, Grandin teaches us how to be better caretakers for animals and how to relate to people as well. Information on Dogs, Cats, and Horses was quite useful and educational to me in understanding these creatures and somewhat helpful in reminding me how I should interact with my kitty. Good discussion also of the differences between predator species animals and prey species animals. The discussion of cows, pigs, and chickens gave an interesting perspective on the lives of animals we use for food. I also enjoyed Grandin's discussion of the ways to make our treatment of food animals more humane and provide them with better lives, despite the fact that we are going to kill them and eat them. After all, I like hamburger and porkchops and even chicken, and the odds of the whole world going vegetarian or vegan are astronomical. Therefore, we really ought to treat our food animals as well as possible so we are not monsters as well as carnivores.