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Filling the Ark

Animal Welfare in Disasters

Leslie Irvine author

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Temple University Press,U.S.

Published:30th Jun '21

Currently unavailable, and unfortunately no date known when it will be back

This paperback is available in another edition too:

Filling the Ark cover

With a new Preface by the author

When disasters strike, people are not the only victims. Hurricane Katrina raised public attention about how disasters affect dogs, cats, and other animals considered members of the human family. In this short but powerful book, now available in paperback, noted sociologist Leslie Irvine goes beyond Katrina to examine how oil spills, fires, and other calamities affect various animal populations—on factory farms, in research facilities, and in the wild.

In a new preface, Irvine surveys the state of animal welfare in disasters since the first edition. Filling the Ark argues that humans cause most of the risks faced by animals and urges for better decisions about the treatment of animals in disasters. Furthermore, it makes a broad appeal for the ethical necessity of better planning to keep animals out of jeopardy. Irvine not only offers policy recommendations and practical advice for evacuating animals, she also makes a strong case for rethinking our use of animals, suggesting ways to create more secure conditions. 

Filling the Ark is a fascinating combination of scholarship, public policy, and animal advocacy. Leslie Irvine examines the plight of animals in the face of man-made and natural disasters in light of larger issues associated with our society's ambivalence about the moral status of other species The writing is excellent and the author's first hand experiences rescuing companion animals during Hurricane Katrina are compelling."—Harold Herzog, Department of Psychology, Western Carolina University

“As Irvine argues, we have a responsibility to minimize the vulnerability of animals within our care and those that can be affected by our actions....Aimed at general readers and those interested in animal-human interaction, this book serves as a reminder that disasters put more than human life at stake.”—Contemporary Sociology


Rather than merely planning for the future of what to do when a nightmare unfolds, [Irvine] encourages us to make animals less vulnerable here and now.... This is a book that should be read by many throughout fields as diverse as veterinary medicine, social science and public policy.”—Anthrozoos

ISBN: 9781592138357

Dimensions: 210mm x 140mm x 14mm

Weight: 200g

176 pages