Takes readers behind the scenes at five animal sanctuaries and rescue zoos, and one care farm.

Just as tiny kittens and puppies grow into bigger cats and dogs, wild animal babies grow into adults too. These full-grown animals may no longer be cute and cuddly. Their wild instincts may kick in. They can become very large, even dangerous. What happens to these exotic pets when owners realize they can no longer care for them but they can't be returned to the wild? And what about big predators that get hurt or sick? This photographic journal takes readers "behind the scenes" at five nonprofit sanctuaries and rescue zoos, and one care farm, that have opened their doors and their hearts to desperate animals in need.

A fascinating and unprecedented ethnography of animal sanctuaries in the United States In the past three decades, animal rights advocates have established everything from elephant sanctuaries in Africa to shelters that rehabilitate animals used in medical testing, to homes for farmed animals, abandoned pets, and entertainment animals that have outlived their “usefulness.” Saving Animals is the first major ethnography to focus on the ethical issues animating the establishment of such places, where animals who have been mistreated or destined for slaughter are allowed to live out their lives simply being animals. Based on fieldwork at animal rescue facilities across the United States, Elan Abrell asks what “saving,” “caring for,” and “sanctuary” actually mean. He considers sanctuaries as laboratories where caregivers conceive and implement new models of caring for and relating to animals. He explores the ethical decision making around sanctuary efforts to unmake property-based human–animal relations by creating spaces in which humans interact with animals as autonomous subjects. Saving Animals illustrates how caregivers and animals respond by cocreating new human–animal ecologies adapted to the material and social conditions of the Anthropocene. Bridging anthropology with animal studies and political philosophy, Saving Animals asks us to imagine less harmful modes of existence in a troubled world where both animals and humans seek sanctuary.

Takes a behind-the-scenes look at four wildlife rehabilitation centers, where veterinarians and staff help nurse wild animals back to health.

Takes readers behind the scenes at five animal sanctuaries and rescue zoos, and one care farm.

An informative book for middle-grade readers about sanctuaries across North America that rescue wild animals and provide them with safe places to live. Years ago, most major cities in North America had zoos full of exotic or wild animals in tiny cages. It was also not uncommon for wild animals to be kept as pets or trained to perform in circuses. Today, we have a different way of looking at animals and deciding if and how they should be kept in captivity. There are still zoos and aquariums, of course, but the best ones are more concerned with protecting animals than putting them on display. There is also a different sort of organization--the animal sanctuary--which provides comfortable homes for animals that have been housed in unaccredited zoos or caught up in the illegal exotic-animal trade. Sanctuaries are never a substitute for the wild, but they are the next best thing. A Home Away from Hometells the true stories of animals that live in sanctuaries across North America, from the tragic tale of Moby Doll, the first orca held in captivity in Vancouver, to the inspiring story of Thika, Toka, and Iringa, three elephants who travelled from a tiny zoo enclosure to a sprawling acreage in Sacramento, California. Often entertaining and sometimes sad, this book is an eye-opening read for children who care about the welfare of animals and want to know more about the organizations that help them.

Leading animal rights activist Gene Baur examines the real cost of the meat on our plates -- for both humans and animals alike -- in this provocative and thorough examination of the modern farm industry. Many people picture cows, sheep, pigs, and chickens as friendly creatures who live happily within the confines of a peaceful family farm, arriving as food for humans only at the end of their sun-drenched lives. That's what Gene Baur had been told -- but when he first visited a stockyard he realized that this rosy depiction couldn't be more inaccurate. Amid the stench, noise, and filth, his attention was drawn in particular to one sheep who had been cast aside for dead. But as Baur walked by, the sheep raised her head and looked right at him. She was still alive, and the one thing Baur knew for sure that day was that he had to get her to safety. Hilda, as she was later named, was nursed back to health and soon became the first resident of Farm Sanctuary -- an organization dedicated to the rescue, care, and protection of farm animals. The truth is that farm production does not depend on the family farmer with a small herd of animals but instead resembles a large, assembly-line factory. Animals raised for human consumption are confined for the entirety of their lives and often live without companionship, fresh air, or even adequate food and water.Viewed as production units rather than living beings with feelings, ten billion farm animals are exploited specifically for food in the United States every year. In Farm Sanctuary, Baur provides a thoughtprovoking investigation of the ethical questions involved in the production of beef, poultry, pork, milk,and eggs -- and what each of us can do to stop the mistreatment of farm animals and promote compassion. He details the triumphs and the disappointments of more than twenty years on the front lines of the animal protection movement. And he introduces sanctuary. us to some of the special creatures who live at Farm Sanctuary -- from Maya the cow to Marmalade the chicken -- all of whom escaped horrible circumstances to live happier, more peaceful lives. Farm Sanctuary shows how all of us have an opportunity and a responsibility to consume a kinder plate, making a better life for ourselves and animals as well. You will certainly never think of a hamburger or chicken breast the same way after reading this book.