Read On, Fellow Readers!

Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and happy Friday! We are now at the end of our reading of Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. It is also, sadly, the end of this installment of the VegNews Book Club. After a year of reading and discussing some really great books, the book club is coming to a close for the time being. Keep a look out for other exciting VegNews projects in the future, and keep reading those books! New, vegan and animal-rights related titles are coming out right and left—you'll find many of them in the Media Lounge section of VegNews Magazine. I hope everyone has enjoyed the books and conversation as much as I have. Have a beautiful summer!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and welcome to the last week of the VegNews Book Club, in which we are discussing Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. This was a unique book, and I hope you guys enjoyed it as much as I did.

We read the rest of the book for this week's discussion, which talked about sea mammals in captivity, including seals, dolphins, and orca whales, also referred to as Killer Whales. The stories pretty much went the same way as the previous stories in the book, in which these animal tried to escape, or if escape was not possible, they attacked. The different attacks depicted were mainly from the dolphins and the orca whales. What fascinated me the most about these attacks, which sometimes even lead to the death of trainers, is that attacks like these are usually not publicized. Sea World is such a big and wealthy corporation, that it has the ability to keep these instances quiet, even though they should be known. Especially the story about Tilikum, who grabbed the trainer from outside the pool into the water, and after shaking her quite violently, held her at the bottom of the pool until she drowned. This was not an isolated incident, showing that these types of attacks are not accidents, but instead are the animals' way of saying that they want their freedom. I think they are making their message clear, but the owners of these major tourist industries either don't want to listen, or are too greedy to listen.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. What chapter in the book most interested you? What story was the most captivating, and really showed you that these animals' are trying to tell us something?

 
2. Do you think it is greed or arrogance that keep the owners of parks like Sea World buying wild sea animals to perform in front of large audiences?

 
The Assignment: Enjoy more great reads during the summer months! Check out some good ones here.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary:  Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and happy Friday! We are now at the end of our third week of reading Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. Unfortunately, there was no participation in the discussion this week, so I'll just keep the wrap up brief. Though upsetting, I think this book is very informative about what is happening behind the scenes of zoos, circuses, and other places that exhibit and exploit animals. As Hribal explains, these stories are usually covered up, or at least portrayed in way to make the situation not look as bad as it really is. This is truly upsetting, and I'm glad that there are books like this one out there that are not afraid to tell the truth.

Next week will be the last discussion of the book, as well as the last discussion of the VegNews Book Club. Please have the rest of the book read by then—I look forward to our conversation!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! We are in the third week of our discussion of Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. Another short read for this week, but I don't mind too much. It's been incredibly nice, now that we're in the midst of summer, and it's great to not worry about too much reading.

We read another chapter of the book for this week's discussion, which talks about monkeys. Hribal gives many different accounts of escape attempts and attacks of monkeys in zoos and research laboratories. The stories of the escape attempts are truly amazing, and really goes to show the extent of these animals' need for freedom. One such incredible story is of the orangutans Ken and Kumang in the San Diego Zoo. After several escapes, the zoo spent three months rebuilding the orangutan facility to make it escape-proof. It held for a while, but four years after the new facility debuted, another orangutan, Indah, found a way out.

The stories about the monkeys used to make films deeply saddened me, specifically the story about the chimpanzees used in the film Project X, in which they were beaten regularly by the trainers on the set. I watched this movie as a child, and the movie has an animal-rights message. The main character is played by a young Matthew Broderick, who is a janitor in a laboratory that experiments on chimpanzees. He comes to know the animals, and helps them to escape at the end of the film. How completely ridiculous that a movie has such abuses and cruelty on its set, while preaching such a message. It horrifies me that there are these types of contradictions out there, and makes me even more skeptical of people's motives in the entertainment industry.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. Do you think that all films that have animals in them also abuse these animals behind the scenes? Will you watch any films that include animals and claim to have an animal-rights message, even though there's a possibility of abuse on the set?

2. What story most fascinated you in this chapter?

 
The Assignment: Please read the rest of Fear of the Animal Planet for our discussion on Monday, June 20.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary:  Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! We are now at the end of our second week of reading Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. Thanks for the discussion this week—I appreciate the participation.

For this week's discussion, I asked you two questions—if you have any regrets from your past that may have negatively impacted animals, and your response to zoo keepers saying that they are helping animals. It sounds like we all have some regrets from our childhood regarding our treatment of animals, but the main one was visiting places where animals are exhibited or used for entertainment. Regarding the second question, it was agreed upon that zoo keepers think they are doing the right thing, but in a very biased sense—they don't want to consider any other point of view. From what we've read so far in the book, it seems like zoo keepers are in denial about how they are treating animals. These captive animals are obviously not happy, which is why there have been so many escape attempts and attacks in the history of zoos.

I hope you guys are enjoying the book so far. We will be discussing the next chapter next week—have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers! We are in the second week of our discussion of Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. Due to it being a shorter book, our reading was actually not too long for our conversation this week—one chapter, to be specific. I hope you guys found it interesting.

The chapter we read talks more about captive elephants, but instead of circus elephants, Hribal discusses elephants in zoos, and stories of different elephants who have turned against their trainers and tried to escape. The story most striking for me was the one about Babe who resided at the Toledo Zoo. My entire family is actually from Toledo, OH, and as a child, I visited the Toledo Zoo quite often until I moved to Virginia at the age of six. I feel terrible about the fact that my family supported the zoo so much, and I recall that I very much enjoyed myself, but I was also a very young child.

The story about Babe is quite upsetting, to say the least, just like the rest of the stories within this chapter, as well as the entire book. He was paraded around and abused quite frequently by his various trainers, one of which he killed. The zoo considered him a troublesome elephant, and was even going to be executed. Fortunately—if you could say that word for an animal who spends his life in captivity—the general public of Toledo did not like the idea of seeing him killed, which prevented it from happening. However, Babe still died while in captivity later on.

I also just recently found out that the Toledo Zoo is still celebrating the captivity of elephants. Just last Friday, an African elephant was born in the confines of the zoo. People are wildly ecstatic about this, and the story is all over the news, but I'm sure the newborn baby will not be happy with a life behind bars.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. I mentioned above about my regret in going to the zoo often as a child. Do you have any specific regrets that you have done in the past that may have had a negative impact on animals, other than eating meat?

2. Zoo keepers say that they are helping animals, and even claim to be rescuers of animals. What is your response to this?

 
The Assignment: Please read chapter three of Fear of the Animal Planet for our discussion on Monday, June 13.

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary:  Good morning everyone! We are now at the end of our first week of reading Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. We received a couple of comments, which I appreciate, and next week we will be discussing the next chapter of the book. I hope you enjoy it! 

This week, I first asked your thoughts on how when animals were put on trial, and treated in the same way as other people on trial. Both Amy D. and Victoria who commented had mixed views. It is hard to picture animals being put trial in a court of law, and I'm not really sure of my feelings on the matter as well. One could say that the animals were more equal back then, but at the same time, animals are different than human beings, and obviously did not have the ability to defend themselves. It is quite an interesting topic of discussion, and one that I have already brought up in my personal group of friends.

I then asked what you think of Hribal's writing style, and seems that both Amy D. and Victoria like it so far. I do agree with Amy D. regarding Hribal's tendency to digress from his subject quite often, but his digressions are usually pretty interesting.


That wraps things up until our discussion on Monday. Have a great weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon VegNews Book Clubbers, and welcome to the month of June! I realize that we are still technically in the month of May, but it will be June soon enough, and it's time to discuss our final book of the VegNews Book Club, Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. This is definitely more of an independent book, and not well-known, but it seems to be an interesting book so far, and I look forward to discussing it with everyone!

I asked you to read the introduction, prologue, and chapter one for our discussion today. As you may have realized, this book mainly deals with animals used in the entertainment business, rather than food animals. It is also intriguing because it highlights instances when these animals have pretty deliberately sought revenge. The introduction gives a bit of history of human and animal interaction, and the writer, Jeffrey St. Clair, spends a good amount of time talking about how in the Middle Ages, animals were put on trial just like humans. These trials stopped a little after the early-seventeenth century, in which St Clair believes is the time when humans started to think of themselves as superior to animals, and able to use animals any way they wanted to, such as for entertainment and educational purposes.

Hribal's first chapter talks about circus elephants, and depicts different times in history when elephants have attacked and sometimes killed their trainers, as well as their escape attempts. He writes the book from the animals' point of view, helping the reader to understand why the animal attacked in the first place. We in the animal-rights movement already know how viciously these animals are treated, but you don't need to be an animal-rights activist to understand why these elephants did what they did. Hribal concludes the first chapter with the story of Tyke—an elephant killed in 1993 in Honolulu after he attacked his trainers and escaped from a show. His death—even though it was just one of many—helped to start a movement against the use of elephants in the entertainment industry. Although they are still used today, Hribal claims that the number has greatly decreased, and many elephants have been saved and moved to sanctuaries to live the rest of their lives in peace.

The Discussion: Here are two discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!

1. As mentioned by St. Clair, people now view putting animals on trial as foolish. What are your thoughts on this point of history when animals were put on trial?

2. What do you think of Hribal's writing style? Do you think he's getting his point across?
 
The Assignment: Please read chapter two of Fear of the Animal Planet for our discussion on Monday, June 6. See you then!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Summary:  Good afternoon everyone! I hope everyone's excited about the long weekend coming up—I sure am. Due to Monday being Memorial Day, discussion will be posted Tuesday, May 31, and it will be our first of the June read, Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal. I have already started reading, and it's very interesting. I hope you guys like it as well!

This week's final discussion of The Bond by Wayne Pacelle was great—thanks to all those who commented! It seems like everyone is very optimistic about the book in general, as well as the future of the animal-rights movement. There will always be wins and losses when it comes to important issues, but it's good to always stay positive.

I want to take this time to announce that next month will be the final month of the VegNews Book Club. It's been a full year of discussing fantastic books, and I want to thank everyone who has participated. We hope that you still continue to read books with animal-rights messages, as it's always important to stay informed. Thanks again for a great year of the VegNews Book Club, and have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

The Gist: Good afternoon, and welcome to the fourth and final week of our discussion of The Bond by Wayne Pacelle. Next week, we will begin our discussion of Fear of the Animal Planet by Jason Hribal, which seems like a very interesting read. Be sure to get your copy, so you can join in.


We finished the book by reading the entirety of Part Three this week, which includes two chapters. There is also a small section entitled "Fifty Ways to Help Animals," which literally states 50 ways to help, such as adopting a vegetarian/vegan lifestyle, writing letters to the editor regarding animal-protection issues, and just registering to vote. All of part three is mainly about creating a more humane world, and in chapter seven, Pacelle first states different cruelties that are still going on in the US and world, and tells about the people who defend these ways. The cruelties he talks about mainly encompass the use of animals for food, clothing, and sport. Organizations, such as the USDA, support the factory farmers because that's where the money is, and the National Rifle Association (NRA) defends all types of hunting, even the hunting that really isn't hunting—pigeon shoots, for example—because they believe it is a human right. Pacelle explains that is not about rights, but tradition and an unwillingness to change, that keeps these cruelties going.


In the final chapter of part three, Pacelle discusses how we could go about developing a more humane economy. He reiterates the fact that most cruelties stem from our not wanting to change and move away from tradition, even though once we do, the humane way is always the best option. He opens the chapter talking about when he went whale watching with a group of animal advocates, and relates how whale watching is now the norm in the Northeast, just a little more than 100 years ago the norm was whale hunting. So many inhumane practices are insufficient and costly, such as animal testing, but due to the fact that it's the norm, it is still happening. However, things are getting better, and small changes are being taken to help animals. Such changes include the development of chemical birth control to stem the population of wildlife, and possibly even dogs and cats in the near future. Also, the use of new and improved scientific methods to test the toxicity of chemicals in consumer products, without testing them on animals. It is changes like these that are helping us move in the right direction towards a more humane world.


The Discussion: Here are three discussion points to help get the conversation started. I look forward to hearing from you!


1. What are your thoughts on the use of chemical birth control to keep the population of animal wildlife at bay?


2. Pacelle says that at the World Animal Forum in May 2010, they made several resolutions, including the worldwide ban on factory-farming practices by 2050. What do you think of these goals? Do you think they can be reached?


3. Overall, how did you like The Bond? Would you recommend it to a meat-eating friend? 


The Assignment: Due to the holiday weekend, next week's discussion will begin on Tuesday, May 31. Please read the introduction, Prologue, and chapter one for our discussion. See you then!


~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig

Reading List

Happy Thursday VegNews Book Clubbers, and I hope you're enjoying Veganist by Kathy Freston. This is a special post to bring you some very exciting news: the next three books that we will be reading! Without further ado, here is our lineup for the next three months:

April: Vegan's Daily Companion by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau
May: The Bond by Wayne Pacelle
June: Fear of an Animal Planet by Jason Hribal

Fear of an Animal Planet will step away from the vegan diet realm, and into the subject of animals in captivity, which I think is another important issue to discuss in regards to animal rights. I am very excited about all three of these reads, and I look forward to discussing them with you!

~VegNews Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig