Animal Sentience blog » General http://www.livesofanimals.org Stories about the lives of animals Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:48:06 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 The Inner World of Farm Animals – Book review http://www.livesofanimals.org/2009/02/20/the-inner-world-of-farm-animals-book-review/ http://www.livesofanimals.org/2009/02/20/the-inner-world-of-farm-animals-book-review/#comments Fri, 20 Feb 2009 12:59:25 +0000 animalslife http://www.livesofanimals.org/?p=106 The Inner World of Farm Animals: Their Amazing Social, Emotional and Intellectual Capacities

This beautiful book by Amy Hatkoff fully lives up to its title. At first glance it may seem like a neat coffee table book, as it contains quality photos of farm animals accompanied by heart-warming stories about individual farm animals who have displayed a wide array of clever or generous actions. Presumably, if one pig can show presence of mind in a human crisis then the presumption would be that other pigs would have this capacity too. (In this case the pig brought passers-by to the help of her owner who was indoors having a heart attack.)

Amy Hatkoff  has backed up these stories with short passages based on the work of leading animal welfare scientists such as Professors Marian Dawkins and Mike Mendl, showing the unexpected intelligence of farm animals, such as long-term recognition of missing comrades, delight upon discovering a new technique, and ability to operate a computer game.

Compassion in World Farming highly recommends this book. It would make a lovely gift for a forthcoming birthday or seasonal celebration. We can guarantee that any animal-loving friend will delight in this book. We can nearly guarantee that the sceptic will have their eyes opened! Amy Hatkoff has done the animals a real service.

A Hatkoff. The Inner World of Farm AnimalsThe Inner World of Farm Animals: Their Amazing Social, Emotional and Intellectual Capacities
By Amy Hatkoff
Published by Stewart, Tabori and Chang (New York), 2009
UK Distributors: ABRAMS/STC Tel: 0207 713 2066
£10.99 (UK), $19.95 (US)

]]> http://www.livesofanimals.org/2009/02/20/the-inner-world-of-farm-animals-book-review/feed/ 0 Welcome to Lives of Animals.org http://www.livesofanimals.org/2009/01/19/welcome-to-lives-of-animals-org/ http://www.livesofanimals.org/2009/01/19/welcome-to-lives-of-animals-org/#comments Mon, 19 Jan 2009 17:09:19 +0000 admin http://livesofanimals.wordpress.com/?p=4 “Animals are noteworthy and miraculous, not just because they share traits with us, but because they are special and impressive in their own right.”

Timothy Gentner, University of California psychologist

Animal sentience

Animal sentience

Throughout the ages, most people have recognised that animals feel pain, hunger, thirst, fear, anger, contentment and other emotions, because animals often show us that they do.

Animals are sentient beings. They can enjoy life, but they can also feel pain and can suffer physically and mentally when things go wrong. These feelings are important to them.

Understanding animal sentience means looking at life from the animals’ point of view and taking account of different animals’ needs and preferences, so that in our dealings with them, we can help them live a good life and prevent suffering.

This blog will highlight stories of amazing animals and provide further evidence of their sentience.

Enjoy!

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