Blind-Sided Yet Again
In all the year I’ve been writing commentaries, I’ve never received as many emails as I did for the July commentary on the service animal dilemma. These were sufficiently numerous and thought-provoking that I pondered them while enjoying the sites in Colorado and mastering a new computer and its software.
I’m back in New Hampshire and stuck with my dial-up connection, but pleased to report that a Toshiba Satellite with an external modem and Windows 7 so far works very well. Whew!
But getting back to those responses. These came response came from those who use service animals and/or those who train them. And, not surprisingly, they fell into two categories: those who disagreed with my remarks and those who agreed.
Want to know more about what they said? Click here.
Also, two additions since I wrote the commentary. One is a response from another reader who rightly pointed out that the 24/7 responsibilities of those dogs trained to provide hearing service may exceed those of animals trained to provide service for the blind. This occurs because these animals must always be on high-alert even when the special needs person with whom they live is sleeping.
The second addendum takes the form of the following book announcement I received from the International Society of Anthrozoology:
Every Living Being: Representations of Nonhuman Animals in the Exploration of Human Well-Being
By Marie-France Boissonneault
Synopsis
Every Living Being analyses the historical integration of the role of animals in care-giving positions, and their depiction in popular Western culture. It establishes the degree to which nonhuman animals, domesticated and wild, have contributed to the emotional lives and care of humans in contemporary Western culture. In examining the historical depiction of animals in literature and art, as well as their interpretations in contemporary mass media, the aim of my book
is to provide an in-depth analysis of the cultural interpretation of animals as they interconnect with a diverse array of human-constructed realities principally in the area of ‘wellness and
suffering.’ It seeks to explore the dichotomy between those species which have been utilized primarily as products for human consumption and those species of animals that have become regarded as human companions which can enhance or ameliorate the lives of human beings suffering from illnesses or disabilities on an emotional and/or physical basis.
From the back cover
"Animals are ‘in.’ We find nonhuman animal beings in all sorts of places – in print, on canvas, on the screen, in captivity, in the wild, in our own backyards, and on our plates and covering our
skin. Much research shows that when we take care of and respect animals we also are taking care of ourselves. Every Living Being carefully analyzes how animals have been incorporated into
contemporary Western Culture – some as companions and care-takers and others for consumption without any respect at all. It is the first book to analyze how animals have been portrayed as healers in literature and art and as such is a novel and extremely important contribution to the burgeoning literature on the nature of human-animal relationships — anthrozoology. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in learning more about the diverse, intriguing,
fascinating, challenging, frustrating, paradoxical, and evolving relationships that exist between human and nonhuman animals."
MARC BEKOFF, author of The Emotional Lives of Animals, Animals Matter, and The Animal Manifesto: Six Reasons For Expanding Our Compassion Footprint
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"In India we refer to the Earth Family as Vasudhaiva Kutumbkam. The Earth Family includes human and non human animals, plants and all life on earth. The dominant culture of today excludes other species as well as most humans from consideration. In the process humans are
loosing their humanity. ‘Every Living Being’ celebrates our humanity through non human animals. And in doing so it helps reclaim our humanity."
VANDANA SHIVA , author of Monocultures of the Mind, Recipient of the Alternative Nobel Peace Prize (the Right Livelihood Award), and Founding Director of Bija Vidyapeeth in Dehra Dun, India.
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"Every Living Being is a vital book, for it is ‘of or about life (vita)’ in three senses. It is about other-than-human lives as these are found within, near and far away from our communities. It is equally about human lives and how other living beings so richly impact, even heal us. Just as interestingly, this mind-opening book reveals how our images, symbols and ethics can take on a life of their own, too, either helping us place ourselves in the larger community of life or walling
us off in a prison of human-centeredness. Because this book is vital in all three of these senses, it offers readers the chance to step out of that prison and into the larger world of all life."
PAUL WALDAU, Barker Lecturer on Animal Law at Harvard Law School, former Director of the Center for Animals and Public Policy at Tufts University’s School of Veterinary Medicine, and author of Oxford
University Press’s Animal Rights and The Specter of Speciesism.
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"Boissonneault is among a growing cadre of scholars who recognize the need for a dramatically new way of relating to animals. Hers is an erudite contribution to the emerging idea that our superiority complex towards other sentient creatures is a dead end, and that to regard them as things rather than beings is neither ethical nor sustainable."
JONATHAN BALCOMBE, PhD. Biologist and author of Second Nature: The Inner Lives of Animals
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"In Every Living Being, Boissonneault provides a fascinating and timely analysis of the ways in which our representations of nonhuman animals in literature and popular culture affect our beliefs about and treatment of other species. She inspires and compels us to confront our anthropocentric history so we may forge more compassionate interspecies relationships based on respect and wonder for the intrinsic beauty and difference of all creatures. I will definitely be recommending this book in my classes on Human-Animal Studies."
ANNIE POTTS, Co-Director and Associate Professor, New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies, University of Canterbury
This title is available through the below online retailers.
www.amazon.com
www.bn.com
www.powells.com