Survival at Stake

Survival at Stake: How Our Treatment of Animals Is Key to Human Existence
By Poorva Joshipura

Science now recognizes animal consciousness, intelligence, emotion, and even morality, and along with this must come an awareness of our moral responsibilities toward other sentient beings. But there’s another reason to consider animals’ well-being: It’s intertwined with our own.

In Survival at Stake, animal rights activist Poorva Joshipura argues passionately that humans are far more like other animals than many people care to believe and that we’re all connected. She examines how hunting wildlife leads to pandemics and epidemics, how raising animals for meat destroys forests and causes climate change, how blood sports hurt both humans and animals, how leather production damages the environment and human health, how animal experimentation is often a threat to public health, how cruelty to animals can lead to violent crimes against humans, and more.

Joshipura’s view is that if we reject speciesism (the belief in human superiority) and accept that we are animals, too, irrevocably interconnected to other species—from the largest elephant to the smallest bee—and are a part of nature, rather than dominating it, we can take the necessary steps to benefit all the planet’s inhabitants.