Treated Like Animals: Improving the Lives of the Creatures We Own, Eat and Use

by Alick Simmons

You don’t have to be an animal rights activist to take an interest in how we treat other creatures. All of us are complicit because all of us, with few exceptions, use animals in some way. How we define ‘use’ or exploitation should be everything from enjoying a steak or poached eggs, to riding a horse, to keeping a cat as a pet. Animal use is so deeply engrained in our daily lives that we barely notice it. But also we might choose not to look because we are uncomfortable about how some animals are farmed. On the other hand, animal use might not be noticed because it takes place behind fences, is deliberately secret or simply unaccountable – wildlife ‘management’ and animal research, for example. An animal’s capacity to suffer is not related to the way it is protected by the law, and most killing of wildlife uses methods known to be inhumane. The vast majority of decisions about animal exploitation take little or no account of public opinion and the science of animal welfare. Meanwhile, most vets spend a lot of their time facilitating society’s exploitation of helping them grow well so we can eat them, ensuring they recover from going lame so we can ride them, and stopping disease so they don’t poison us. These are the veterinary services we don’t like to talk about. Unlike other considerations of animal ethics, this timely and incisive book offers practical insights into the various ways in which animals are exploited, and sets out alternatives based on utility, a recognition of animal sentience and the involvement of wider society in key decision-making. It makes compelling reading for anyone who has an interest in animals, whether wild or domestic, free-living or captive, people intrigued about how their food is produced, and those keen to make informed and intelligent decisions.

264 pages, Hardcover

Published March 15, 2023

Reviews

[Andy Cage · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have any interest in animal welfare this is a book you must read. Alick Simmons sets out many of the ways we use and abuse animals and asks a lot of questions about our attitudes to animals used for food, entertainment, research and as pets. He sets out his own approach in each of the settings he describes and challenges us to find our own ethical approach. Should be compulsory reading for all veterinary students!

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I record wryly that I read this book about the 'exploitation' of animals, including companion animals by retired government vet Alick Simmons in a somewhat contorted position due to the presence in my bed of four cats each of which had strong opinions about precisely where they wished to place themselves.

This is a very fine overview, with zooms in, of the full scope of animal use: livestock, wildlife, companion animals, research. I like a bit of 'subject specific' language (you might call it 'jargon') and enjoy working out the meaning of words which are new to me but occasionally I felt he forgot this was a book for the general public (talk of feather pecking of 'conspecifics' one example) He shows how uneven the public response can be (without being unsympathetic) - for example the outrage at individual instances of abuse against wilful ignorance about suffering much greater in terms of numbers affected. (He doesn't use the term wilful ignorance and demonstrates a sensitive understanding of the difficulties of asking questions and getting worthwhile answers) He is especially exercised about badger culling (and the inhumanity involved in how it is being done) and the shocking reality that there are no humane ways of controlling rats (other than keeping them out of places if possible), not even live trapping and release.

His particular angle as someone who has done the dirty jobs (literally and metaphorically) talking through his personal approach was very rewarding.

He looks (rather as Mark Avery does for conservation in his book Reflections - the two are companions really) at the different ways to effect change. I think I would have liked more on the lack of oversight and accountability, although his points about the tight control of animal research in particular contrasted with any other area of animal exploitation perhaps do that implicitly. I also thought he accepted too readily that so much medical progress could only have been achieved through the use of animals (*was* achieved is not the same thing) and made no mention of where it has been held back through the use of animal models.

A fine book which should be widely read.