This is an excellent book. It is about loving animals, but NOT in a cute-widdle-wooda-wooda way. More in the sense of recognizing them as living beings. File under animal (and human) cognition, psychology, and philosophy; and maaaaybe animal training after that (but while it gives some excellent advice, this is in no way a how-to manual).

In fact the only reason I didn't give this book 5 stars is that I have absolutely zero grounding in philosophy, and some of the academic discussion (Stanley Cavell? doesn't ring a bell) was really heavy going and I skimmed more than processed the ideas. But that's my failure as a reader, not Hearne's failure -- she's writing heavy stuff, and expects the reader to keep up.

Read if you love, well, thinking. And own, or might ever own, a doggie or a kitty.