Hal Herzog's Some We Love, Some We Hate, Some We Eat provides an entertaining and thought-provoking critique of the moral inconsistencies governing the human-animal relationship. Drawing on years of research and sociological observations, the author's compilation attempts to explain the paradoxical nature of our feelings towards animals. The investigation surpasses the typical "psychology of meat consumption" and examines, among other factors, the importance of a creature’s eye size in determining its moral standing. Another section questions the ethics of pet ownership and how the United States spends billions of dollars on pet insurance while in other countries dogs are considered a pest that should be exterminated. Other topics include the difference that gender makes in the human-animal relationship, whether or not the discoveries made by mouse research are justified, and how the Nazis held dogs in higher esteem than many ethnic groups.
One particularly perplexing chapter is devoted to Herzog's dissertation topic: the psychology behind cockfights. After spending time on the underground "circuit", he shares with readers the handlers' justification of the sport and how many of them gushed about the love they have for their birds. He then raises a novel and unusual question in the arena of human-animal dynamics that I am still unable to answer: would you rather live the life of a gamecock or a broiler chicken?
0 comments:
Post a Comment