Cruel: Bearing Witness to Animal Exploitation

Cruel: Bearing Witness to Animal Exploitation
By Sue Coe

Longtime activist and illustrator Sue Coe—a pioneer defender of animal rights—has produced a striking new work that furthers her career-long exposé of the exploitation of animals bred, raised, and slaughtered for human consumption. Richly illustrated with full-color paintings and drawings throughout, Cruel conveys the intense suffering of not only the animals but also the workers involved in their violent destruction. This is a deeply moving, upsetting work that depicts the horrific consequences of eating meat, and it’s not for the faint of heart. Armed with only her sketchpad, Coe is often allowed access to places where photographers and reporters are rarely admitted. The result is a passionate testimony to the waste and violence perpetrated by one species against so many others, and as both the text and unforgettable illustrations of this book make clear, these harmful actions will have severe consequences for humanity.

Coe also reveals the less-known—yet equally shocking—animal abuse in commercial fishing and the wool industry, the deadly use of pesticides, and the use of dangerous livestock “protection” collars.