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New Book Explores the Overlooked Tragedy of Animal Deaths

While many people have contemplated their own mortality and that of their loved ones, fewer have given significant thought to the deaths of nonhuman animals. This gap in awareness, often driven by human actions, is a central theme in the book “When Animals Die: Examining Justifications and Envisioning Justice,” edited by Drs. Katja M. Guenther and Julian Paul Keenan.

This collection of essays challenges readers to reconsider their perspectives on animal death. It highlights the pervasive nature of animal mortality and the often-overlooked fact that countless healthy animals are killed for food, by vehicles, or due to incompatibility with zoo breeding programs. These deaths are frequently mischaracterized as “euthanasia”—a term that misrepresents the true nature of these killings. The book, described as a groundbreaking exploration of human-animal relations and deaths, offers profound insights into these issues.

Dr. Julian Paul Keenan, with a background in neuroscience, psychology, biology, and philosophy, examines death as a neurological process and from the perspective of evolutionary biology. Dr. Katja Guenther approaches the subject from a societal standpoint, focusing on how animals are caught up in human-created systems of inequality. Her previous research in high-intake animal shelters, where companion animals are routinely euthanized, prompted her to delve deeply into animal death and the grief it inspires in humans.

The book aims to reach a broad audience, particularly those who have not previously considered the impact of animal death. This includes individuals concerned about the climate crisis who may not yet recognize the connection between environmental catastrophe and animal mortality. The book also targets readers interested in structural inequalities and how they affect both human and nonhuman lives.

Each chapter of “When Animals Die” addresses different aspects of animal death, revealing the deep entanglement of human ideologies and activities in these processes. Topics range from the practices of guinea pig farming in Peru to the life and death of transgenic animals, illustrating the complex and often violent nature of animal deaths.

What sets this book apart is its interdisciplinary approach and its commitment to critically examining animal death. Contributors from various fields, including Indigenous food sovereignty, prison abolition, feminist animal studies, and farmed animal welfare, provide diverse perspectives. They approach animal death as a multifaceted issue, often marked by suffering, violence, and the devaluation of life.

The book hopes to deepen readers’ understanding of both animal lives and deaths, shedding light on the human roles in these processes. For instance, it highlights the largely unacknowledged deaths of millions of chickens due to avian flu outbreaks and the differing cultural meanings attached to the deaths of various animals, such as the honored salmon in Indigenous communities.