The Welfare of Animals is an exciting book that will stimulate and
provoke its readers. It describes many problems faced by animals - those
we use for food, for pleasure or in research, and those simply but
harshly affected by shrinking habitats in the face of the ever-growing
human population. And yet it is not a depressing read. It focuses not
only on the difficulties that animals face, but on their capacity for
free-choice, for joy and excitement, and on the possible ways in which
the planet can be shared between species if only we take the time and
trouble to think more carefully about the impact of our actions. Clive
Phillips moved from the United Kingdom to take up a Foundation Chair in
Animal Welfare at the University of Queensland, becoming Australia's
first Professor of Animal Welfare in 2003. This cultural leap, combined
with his travels in countries like Malaysia and Borneo, permits him the
unique and broad perspective that forms the backbone of this book.
Eschewing the normal territory patrolled by the animal scientist
(explaining the physiological basis of the stress response or causation
of abnormal behaviour), Clive ventures into jungles and deserts, city
centres and tribal homelands, and presents a book that remarkably and
successfully combines travel-diary, nature notes, social and cultural
history.
