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Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy |  | Author: Matthew Scully
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Category: Book
List Price: $15.95
Buy Used: $3.64
as of 11/22/2009 12:48 MST details
You Save: $12.31 (77%)
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Seller: dfarq
Rating:  99 reviews
Sales Rank: 81121
Media: Paperback
Pages: 448
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 8.1 x 5.4 x 1.2
ISBN: 0312319738
Dewey Decimal Number: 179.3
EAN: 9780312319731
ASIN: 0312319738
Publication Date: October 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness; and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth."--Genesis 1:24-26
In this crucial passage from the Old Testament, God grants mankind power over animals. But with this privilege comes the grave responsibility to respect life, to treat animals with simple dignity and compassion.
Somewhere along the way, something has gone wrong.
In Dominion, we witness the annual convention of Safari Club International, an organization whose wealthier members will pay up to $20,000 to hunt an elephant, a lion or another animal, either abroad or in American "safari ranches," where the animals are fenced in pens. We attend the annual International Whaling Commission conference, where the skewed politics of the whaling industry come to light, and the focus is on developing more lethal, but not more merciful, methods of harvesting "living marine resources." And we visit a gargantuan American "factory farm," where animals are treated as mere product and raised in conditions of mass confinement, bred for passivity and bulk, inseminated and fed with machines, kept in tightly confined stalls for the entirety of their lives, and slaughtered in a way that maximizes profits and minimizes decency.
Throughout Dominion, Scully counters the hypocritical arguments that attempt to excuse animal abuse: from those who argue that the Bible's message permits mankind to use animals as it pleases, to the hunter's argument that through hunting animal populations are controlled, to the popular and "scientifically proven" notions that animals cannot feel pain, experience no emotions, and are not conscious of their own lives.
The result is eye opening, painful and infuriating, insightful and rewarding. Dominion is a plea for human benevolence and mercy, a scathing attack on those who would dismiss animal activists as mere sentimentalists, and a demand for reform from the government down to the individual. Matthew Scully has created a groundbreaking work, a book of lasting power and importance for all of us.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 99
 Persuasive and Well-Written October 28, 2009
Petal Power (San Francisco, CA)
I have read many books on the plight of animals in today's world, and this is one of the best. In addition to the information on factory farms, I appreciated Matthew Scully's description of the plight of the whales, which I had not heard about from other sources. The quality of writing is amazing, and Matthew Scully's arguments are well thought-out. Highly recommended!
Amazon dot com Kills Animals! August 28, 2009
Amazon Sells Fur (Amazon sells fur!)
4 out of 5 found this review helpful
Amazon dot com kills animals by supporting the fur industry.
I liked the book, but am saddened that I bought it from a company that SELLS FUR. I am sick and sad that I ever gave Amazon a single dime. I am not the only one. Amazon execs should understand that there are many more people out here who are offended at the butchering deaths of helpless animals for ridiculous VANITY, than there are people who would actually go to amazon to buy their FUR COATS. I ask that others please reconsider buying any more products from these people until they stop selling fur, and stop sending out cookie-cutter form letters to those of us who give a damn about the lives of others. (No, it is not enough to claim that they're merely trying to "give the customer what they want even if it offends some people. Would they say that if I wanted to buy heroin? If I wanted to buy a nuclear weapon? If I wanted to buy an Indonesian House Boy??? Not good enough. Some things are so reprehensible that society demands that they NOT sell them. Although, I'm sure that if they could, they would, so long as it was profitable.)
Take the profit out of death and join me in boycotting Amazon. And tell your friends. There are hundreds of other sites that sell great books, often cheaper, that do not profit from the deaths of innocent animals.
A must for your animal rights library March 8, 2009
Bob Mackie!!! (left lobe, center brain)
3 out of 8 found this review helpful
Dominion is a powerful book about animal rights. But this isn't some PETA-soaked, pinko-communist manifesto on how animals are better than humans. This is the conservative argument against exploiting our animal friends.
The author is a former speechwriter for George Bush and a very eloquent writer who explains that man's compact with God leaves him responsible for how animals are treated. It's a much different argument than many animal rights organizers and that's why this book is a breath of fresh air.
This is not a book on philosophy, though. The author brings you in through detailed descriptions of various horrible acts from caged hunting to food processing.
Bottom Line:
If you're an animal rights freak -- get this book. It'll give you more arguments to make your case.
If you have a conservative family member, get this book. Maybe you'll change their mind.
If you really don't give a hoot about animals, then probably shouldn't get this book.
The finest book ever written on this subject March 1, 2009
J. Roland (Texas)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
With eloquence approaching poetry, and logic so firmly rooted as to be unassailable, Matthew Scully has created a masterwork on the subject of animal welfare. I defy you to read more than two chapters and not be swayed.
He makes religious connections, but he does not preach. He appeals to our sympathies, and yet never veers into the gratuitously graphic. It is a rock-solid argument which outlines man's responsibilities regarding God's lesser creatures. Coming from a conservative point of view only makes it that much more persuasive, because you can sense that Scully must have horrified many of his cohorts by taking this stance.
It took courage for a former Bush Administration official, surrounded by Safari Club members, to pen such a work. You owe it to yourself to read it. Better yet, pass it along to anyone who expresses contempt toward the issue of animal welfare. If this book doesn't change their mind, nothing will.
 Would have been a good magazine article October 10, 2008
Abby Raffles (NJ United States)
7 out of 18 found this review helpful
My dogsitter insisted I read this book, exclaiming over Matthew Scully's elogquent writing and the fact that he wrote Sarah Palin's very inspiring acceptance speech at the Republican convention. His material here would have made an interesting speech or in depth article. Yes, his writing is eloquent. Yes, it's an interesting subject. But it takes a right wing Christian turn at every opportunity. It's not spiritual, it's political. It's difficult to read for more than a few pages because you feel yourself being stuffed with this Christian, animal rights viewpoint. Sometimes I choose to read politically slanted biographies or histories, but I know before I start which viewpoint I'll be getting. His book is good and maybe he will get a lot of converts to his way of thinking. I found myself wondering if he had any pets.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 99
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