The
extraordinary story of
how we began to legally
protect animals
In
eighteenth-century England—where
cockfighting and bullbaiting
drew large crowds, and
the abuse of animals
was routine—the
idea of animal protection
was dismissed as laughably
radical. But as more
people crowded into cities
and increasing numbers
shared their lives with
pets, attitudes toward
animals began changing,
assisted by an unlikely
assortment of exceptional
people. An unconventional
duchess defended their
intellect in her writings.
A gentleman scientist
lamented the suffering
of nimals used for experimentation,
while a few brave clergymen
scandalized their congregations
by preaching that even
beasts have souls. Some
members of parliament,
including an eccentric
former lord chancellor
and an evangelical abolitionist,
began the long, arduous
struggle to give animals
legal protection. And
when the cause was finally
taken up by Richard Martin--a
flamboyant but compassionate
Irishman who would become
known throughout Britain
as “Humanity
Dick”--the lives
of beasts and, correspondingly,
men and women, would
change forever. Kathryn
Shevelow gives us the dramatic
story of the bold reformers
who braved attacks because
they sympathized with the
plight of creatures everywhere;
while she also tells of
the changes in attitudes
that would make their reforms
possible. Historical luminaries
from all walks of life
had much to say on the
subject of animals: Samuel
Pepys described the “rude
and nasty pleasure” of
bullbaiting in his famous
diaries, Alexander Pope
pleaded for compassion
in a well-known essay,
and William Hogarth engraved
one of the most powerful
anti-cruelty polemics ever
created. Richard Brinsley
Sheridan, the celebrated
playwright, spoke passionately
on their behalf in the
House of Commons, and William
Wilberforce, who led the
struggle to end the slave
trade, also helped to found
the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals.
But more than just a historical
account, this book is an
eye-opening exploration
of how our feelings toward
animals reveal our ideas
about ourselves, mercy,
God, and nature.
Accessible
and lively, For
the Love of Animals is
a ground-breaking
cultural narrative
that takes us into
the lives of animals—and
into the minds of
humans—at
a transforming moment
in history.
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