The Inner World of Farm Animals: Their Amazing Intellectual, Emotional and Social Capacities

Well written anecdotes of the very easy to believe concept that all animals are self aware and experience feelings. It is not one of those books that points it's finger at the reader. It makes it's point and I believe would even influence people who are on the fence about the subject. I enjoy these type of stories but do not like being preached at, if you're like me you'll enjoy this book.

This book is truly amazing. It opened my eyes to understanding these animals on a level I never thought I would before. The pictures and stories are captivating. It has given me a new perspective on these compassionate animals that we all share this earth with.

I just received this book and I'm absolutely blown away. The photographs Amy chose for this book perfectly capture the beautiful essence of the various species and individuals featured, and the stories are enough to make people change their minds about "farm animals" without having to sift through high scientific language. I will be giving many copies out as gifts for many years to come. Brava! I wrote this on behalf of 'farm animals' and thought I would share it here, as Amy's book perfectly captures my thoughts: "My hope is that we can all navigate through this world with the grace and integrity of those who most need our protection. May we have the sense of humor and liveliness of the goats; may we have the maternal instincts and protective nature of the hens and the sassiness of the roosters. May we have the gentleness and strength of the cattle, the wisdom, serenity, and humility of the donkeys. May we appreciate the need for community as do the sheep and choose our companions as carefully as do the rabbits. May we have the faithfulness and commitment to family of the geese, the adaptability and affability of the ducks. May we have the inquisitiveness, sensitivity, and playfulness of the turkeys and the intelligence, loyalty, and affection of the pigs. My hope is that we can learn from the animals what we need to become better people."

Peter Singer can go on making his logical, rational, reasonable case for ethical treatment of animals, and PETA can go on with their outrageous campaigns equating factory farming to the Holocaust, and self-righteous vegans can avoid eating figs because they have dead wasps inside them (which is truthy--wasps do get absorbed into figs as part of a necessary pollination/reproduction symbiosis)...but the ultimate, ULTIMATE argument for ethical treatment of animals and decreased meat consumption is in this book: Farm animals are cute. I mean really cute. And they are playful and can be smart, too. They have little societies, of a sort, and can remember things, have favorites, hold grudges. They are not just little people only furrier (and possibly more delicious). But they are not mere unfeeling objects, either. They can, in fact, suffer. And whatever else can be said about humans, by and large those of us who are not sociopaths cannot stand by and watch something innocent and cute suffer. The hamburgers we eat, the buckets of chicken and crispy bacon--all of our meat is so far removed from the animals of which it consists that it is easy to start thinking of meat as something quite removed from suffering, and quite apart from the cute animals pictured in this book. "Inner World" disabuses us of that comforting myth by reminding us, with sparkling prose and wonderful photographs, of what precisely that stuff on our plate really is. I'm pretty far from being an animal rights extremist and am at best a fair-weather vegetarian, but this book strikes me as the perfect prod to a conscience put into a trance by too many "I'm lovin' it" commercials. It is not depressing. It is not shocking. It is, in fact, a great book for children, with all its adorable duckies and lambs and piglets and so forth. No pictures of slaughter-houses, no descriptions of cruelty to shock the senses. Just a reminder that the bacon double-cheeseburger few of us can resist was once, in fact, something we would find it very hard not to pet.

Hats off to Amy Hatkoff, author of this beautiful, approachable book. With simple prose, Hatkoff introduces readers to some startling scientific revelations of animals we prefer to think of as dumb and unfeeling. From pigs who can take the perspective of another, to sheep's preferences for smiling faces, to cows who use an aluminum shed as an amplifier to call their calves in for dinner--you'll find plenty to raise your eyebrows here. I've yet to encounter a solid rationale for the oft-held bias that domesticated animals are less aware, intelligent or sentient than wild animals. Hatkoff has marshaled the evidence to lay that bias to rest. The pages are also graced by a collection of really fine photos, as well as touching stories and eyewitness accounts from animal rescuers and sanctuary workers. I take issue with just one clause in the final section, where we're reminded that these animals are raised and killed "for our benefit." Animal agriculture's harmful contributions to global warming, animal well-being, and human health are no more beneficial to us than they are to the animals. Pass me that veggie-burger.