Animal rights. Those two words conjure diverse but powerful images and reactions. Some nod in agreement, while others roll their eyes in contempt. Most people fall somewhat uncomfortably in the middle, between endorsement and rejection, as they struggle with the profound moral, philosophical, and legal questions provoked by the debate. Today, thousands of organizations lobby, agitate, and educate the public on issues concerning the rights and treatment of nonhumans. For the Prevention of Cruelty is the first history of organized advocacy on behalf of animals in the United States to appear in nearly a half century. Diane Beers demonstrates how the cause has shaped and reshaped itself as it has evolved within the broader social context of the shift from an industrial to a postindustrial society. Until now, the legacy of the movement in the United States has not been examined. Few Americans today perceive either the companionship or the consumption of animals in the same manner as did earlier generations. Moreover, powerful and lingering bonds connect the seemingly disparate American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of the nineteenth century and the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals of today. For the Prevention of Cruelty tells an intriguing and important story that reveals society’s often changing relationship with animals through the lens of those who struggled to shepherd the public toward a greater compassion.

Evidence is mounting that animal abuse, frequently embedded in families scarred by domestic violence and child abuse and neglect, often predicts the potential for other violent acts. As early intervention is critical in the prevention and reduction of aggression, this book encourages researchers and professionals to recognize animal abuse as a significant problem and a human public-health issue that should be included as a curriculum topic in training. The book is an interdisciplinary source book of original essays that examines the relations between animal maltreatment and human interpersonal violence, expands the scope of research in this growing area, and provides practical assessment and documentation strategies to help professionals confronting violence do their jobs better by attending to these connections. As an outgrowth of the Latham Foundation's 1995 training manual, Breaking the Cycles of Violence, this book is a historic step in helping professionals from these disciplines, as well as the general public, recognize the cyclical and insidious nature of family violence and provides training in recognizing peripheral forms of family violence outside a family's immediate purview. It encourages cross-disciplinary prevention and intervention strategies with an ultimate goal of reducing the levels of violence which is such a great societal and cultural concern today. This book brings together, for the first time, all of the leaders in this emerging field. They examine contemporary research and programmatic issues, encourage cross-disciplinary interactions, and describe innovative programs in the field today. Also included are vivid first-person accounts from survivors whose experiences included animal maltreatment among other forms of family violence. Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse provides professional communities of psychologists and child welfare specialists with a deeper, higher, and more encompassing awareness and understanding of the crucial linking of caring for animals and children in human experience. The combination of careful research, documentation, and compelling narrative accounts are blended into a rich resource to help professionals, concerned citizens, and parents understand how the ethics of caring are not bounded by species.

This book is subtitled "A Humorous – If Possible – Novella from the Ghetto.” It was published in 1969 by a famous satirist from Prague, a co-creator of the "small form theater” and a contributor to the humorous Porcupine magazine. The author’s coming of age in the Terezín Ghetto presents a unique image amongst the volumes of the Holocaust literature, combining death and terror with absurdity and humor as well as stark openness. The traditional image of the world of adults viewed through the eyes of a child is constructed in a humorous manner, however, through laughter it also presents experience that is beyond description. The text, translated into English by Alex Zucker and with and epilogue by Jáchym Topol, is followed by personal memories of the author’s sister, film documentarian Zuzana Justmanová.

Contains 46 articles by various authors concerned with cruelty to animals and how that relates to violent human relations.

Practitioners in the animal welfare field, law enforcement circles, and social services arena have often maintained that childhood cruelty to animals is a forerunner to violence against people. Does this behavior serve as a red flag with respect to extremely violent offenders, such as serial killers? Is it part of the cycle of violence associated with domestic abuse? Perez and Heide provide the first scientific examination of this relationship and examine issues of cruelty across different types of animals (pet, wild, stray, farm). The authors evaluate both qualitative and quantitative data to identify correlations between childhood cruelty and adult violent behavior, utilizing interviews and criminal records of violent and nonviolent inmates in a maximum security prison. Their findings will be of importance to a diverse audience, including researchers and practitioners in the field of juvenile justice, violence and domestic abuse, social welfare, animal welfare and animal rights and developmental psychologists and counselors, as well as law enforcement officers, district attorneys and judges, county and municipal officials, animal control officers, veterinarians, and school administrators, especially those concerned with intervention and prevention strategies.

Raising awareness of human indifference and cruelty toward animals, The Global Guide to Animal Protection includes more than 180 introductory articles that survey the extent of worldwide human exploitation of animals from a variety of perspectives. In addition to entries on often disturbing examples of human cruelty toward animals, the book provides inspiring accounts of attempts by courageous individuals--including Jane Goodall, Shirley McGreal, Birute Mary Galdikas, Richard D. Ryder, and Roger Fouts--to challenge and change exploitative practices. As concern for animals and their welfare grows, this volume will be an indispensable aid to general readers, activists, scholars, and students interested in developing a keener awareness of cruelty to animals and considering avenues for reform. Also included is a special foreword by Archbishop Desmond Tutu, urging readers to seek justice and protection for all creatures, humans and animals alike.

From an award-winning historian, the outlandish story of the man who gave rights to animals. In Gilded Age America, people and animals lived cheek-by-jowl in environments that were dirty and dangerous to man and beast alike. The industrial city brought suffering, but it also inspired a compassion for animals that fueled a controversial anti-cruelty movement. From the center of these debates, Henry Bergh launched a shocking campaign to grant rights to animals. A Traitor to His Species is revelatory social history, awash with colorful characters. Cheered on by thousands of men and women who joined his cause, Bergh fought with robber barons, Five Points gangs, and legendary impresario P.T. Barnum, as they pushed for new laws to protect trolley horses, livestock, stray dogs, and other animals. Raucous and entertaining, A Traitor to His Species tells the story of a remarkable man who gave voice to the voiceless and shaped our modern relationship with animals.