Book Review: Animals Make Us Human

Author: Temple Grandin

“How can I make the animals I love as happy as possible?” This is a question every animal-lover has pondered at one point or another. Aside from the obvious food, shelter and water necessities, what do animals need to live their lives in the most fulfilling way?

Temple Grandin has the answer, not only for dogs and cats, but for farm animals, zoo animals and wildlife. Animals Make Us Human is packed to the brim with real information gathered from Grandin's first-hand career experiences in the field of animal science. She bases her work around four core emotions that all people and animals are born with: seeking, rage, fear, and panic. She also references play as another important emotion that can weigh heavily on an animal's happiness. Grandin believes that keeping the seeking and play emotions stimulated while avoiding rage, fear and panic, is the key to improving an animal's mental welfare.

Dogs are the first species to be explored. This chapter covers everything from research on wolf packs to the relationship between how a dog looks and how it behaves. For example, Grandin explains one study that discovered dogs who look “wolfier” (think Siberian Huskies and German Shepherds) have more adult wolf behaviours (both aggressive and submissive) than “non-wolfy” dogs such as the Cavalier King Charles Spaniel or the Norfolk Terrier. She also offers practical advice for dog owners such as how to minimize your dog's panic emotion by properly socializing them or how to provide interesting games and walks to arouse their seeking system.

Her chapter on cats begins with a reminder that “cats haven't really been domesticated, at least not nearly to the degree dogs have.” Grandin admits that cats are harder to read, but offers plenty of information
on how they communicate and how cat owners can solve common problems such as elimination disorders. According to the book, cats have high levels of OCD-like behaviour, are susceptible to something called “cat explosions” and, in order to turn on play and seeking emotions, can be trained. Intrigued? Grandin goes into detail on each of these points and more.

A large portion of the book is dedicated to the animals used in the factory farming industry. Grandin has extensive experience working in the livestock industry and has actually developed farm equipment that reduces the panic emotion both throughout the life of a farm animal and before it is slaughtered. A big problem with the livestock industry lies in the management. When workers aren't offered incentives for being kinder to the animals, their rage system kicks in (perhaps, for example, because a pig isn't moving as fast as they would like) and physical abuse is the result. Grandin has developed her own set of standards for farm animals and believes that along with specialized equipment, regular audits are the only way to keep these standards in check. For example, in her opinion, chicken barns should have no more than 1 per cent of chickens with broken wings and beef plants should not have to use electric prods on more than 5 per cent of the cattle.

Have you ever wondered why large, prey animals at the zoo, such as tigers or grizzly bears, pace back and forth? Grandin explains that this is something called a stereotypy (or an abnormal repetitive behaviour). She has worked with many zoos on this common problem and shares several stories about how she has been able to reduce stereotypies in a variety of species. She also explains how to turn on the seeking emotion using positive reinforcement to train zoo animals to cooperate with zoo routines and veterinary procedures. When blood tests are needed, it certainly seems more humane to train a pronghorn antelope to trust the veterinarian, rather than having to capture them with a net and hold them down for the procedure!

The wealth of information in Animals Make Us Human is like nothing else. Grandin's research, theories and personal experiences are invaluable to the animals that surround us. Her work is starting to change the way we look at our own dogs, cats and horses; the way we raise animals for food; and the way we treat both wild and captive animals. This book will bring you some tears and chuckles, but most of all, enlightenment that will inspire you to make a difference in the world of animals.

Book Review by Jenelle Petrinchuk