A fascinating, compassionate way to consider how humans manage animals and how to look at the essential emotional needs of animals. In a nutshell: animals need to able to express their natural behaviors. When we confine pets or domestic or wild animals in ways that don't allow that, we are injuring or neglecting them in important ways. Grandin goes through domestic animals one at a time, discussing their needs and behaviors, and then covers wild animals in a more general way. With each section I wondered "am I actually interested in cows,etc."? It turned out that I was because it was all interesting. And despite having seen seasons worth of the Dog Whisperer and having read numerous dog books, I ended up viewing my dogs differently because of this book. I have an insecure rescue dog with some annoying behavior, that Grandin explained perfectly. She confirmed my intuition about how to handle it and made me feel more compassionate about it. She also speaks as a scientist, not as someone making an emotional plea, which makes it all the more powerful.