Why "Animals Make Us Human"; By Temple Grandin, Sucks

With a title like "Animals Make Us Human: Creating the Best Life for Animals" (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; 2009), one would expect a book that focused on the human-animal bond or, perhaps show reasons why relationships with animals make a person even more of a human being. But none of this appears in this excruciatingly meandering tome by Dr. Temple Grandin and ghostwriter Catherine Johnson. The title has nothing to do with the book's contents.

A much more accurate title would have been "Kinder, Gentler Forms of Animal Abuse." Anyone who truly loves animals will find Grandin and Johnson's work more horrific than a Stephen King novel. The book spends most of its time either rehashing the pair's previous work, "Animals In Translation" (2004) or listing gruesome acts of animal cruelty to pets, livestock and zoo animals. Unfortunately, people who really hate animals and enjoy the thought of torturing them will probably enjoy "Animals Make Us Human." They may even pick up some tips.

About Dr. Grandin

Grandin is completely unqualified to co-write a book about "creating a better life for animals." She casually mentions using animals for her research projects and then culling them in order to examine their brain development. She also works for the meat industry and for fast-food chain restraints like McDonald's and Wendy's. In her chapter on cows, she crows about inventing a conveyer belt system for cows in abattoirs that is now considered the standard in North America.

Grandin is also one of the very few autistic persons with a doctorate. Apparently, this makes her an expert on how to treat animals with compassion and respect. Grandin mentions that people with autism or Asperger's syndrome have a lot in common with animals, so her autism gives her a unique insight into how an animal thinks. If she does, it sure isn't apparent in "Animals Make Us Human." Her conclusions are nothing new to anyone who really loves animals or gives a darn about animal rights.

Many Wrongs Don't Make a Right

Grandin also spouts off personal opinions which show that in some ways she is completely out of touch in reality. She does not believe in leash laws for dogs or keeping dogs inside a fenced-in yard. She thinks it would be best if dogs were allowed to wander about like they did when she was a child.

This is ridiculous. Because of traffic, gun-toting neighbors, professional dognappers that sell pets to medical labs for dissection or to dogfighters to use as bait animals, it is impossible to let a dog wander in modern society without the dog getting abused, maimed or killed. Somehow, Grandidn completely ignores these facts.

Also, if she really was interested in animal rights, she would not have killed animals as part of her experiments or at least would have included a sentence like "I wish we didn't have to kill them, but that was the only option open to us." She also should advocate for vegetarianism or veganism because of the horrors of factory farming, being transported to slaughter and the slaughterhouse itself. Then she would have some credibility.

This book makes much better kindling than it does a read. Temple Grandin thoroughly disgusts me and I am appalled by how many awards and accolades she received. An HBO movie about her live was aired in 2010. She is no hero. She is Michael Vick in a cowboy shirt.