Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy

Rating:
Summary: Powerful Prose
Review: Dominion is a fantastic read, whether you agree with his argument or not. No one can put this book down and not give careful consideration to Scully's point: that we as humans cannot morally justify the way we treat animal.

Rating:
Summary: Read this nascent masterpiece
Review: Matthew Scully's Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy is a landmark book. It outlines the abuses perpetrated by humans on other animals, while dissecting the flawed logic of those attempting to defend such cruelty.

Through poignant first hand accounts, Scully draws attention to the pain and suffering we inflict on other animals. Our callous arrogance is made shamefully clear as the author interacts with individuals, industries, and governments who treat other sentient beings as mere commodities.

Dominion is a nascent masterpiece, calling for compassion and mercy in a world filled with institutionalized cruelty. It urges that we conduct ourselves more humanely and behave according to basic ethical standards.

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Summary: Dominion - A Powerful Pen Decries the Suffering of Animals
Review: Matthew Scully has written a beautiful book in which he bases his argument for animal protection not on rights, liberation, or ethics, but on mercy. He tells us, "We are called to treat them with kindness, not because they have rights or power or some claim to equality, but in a sense because they don't; because they all stand unequal and powerless before us. Animals are so easily overlooked, their interests so easily brushed aside. Whenever we humans enter the world, from our farms, to the local animal shelter to the African savanna, we enter as lords of the earth bearing strange powers of terror and mercy alike."

His argument is compelling.

Scully takes us into the world of Safari Club where his disgust is apparent to us and likely to be shared by all decent people reading his description. He includes a chapter on the impotent, sad, joke that is the International Whaling Commission. His chapter on factory farming and slaughterhouses is no less hard-hitting; he describes a state of the art farm where he found sows wounded, sickly, and some dead, housed in tiny gestation crates, unable to move. He writes about slaughterhouses where production speeds make the stunning of all animals impossible to achieve; the result is that many animals, every day, are hacked up or dropped into scalding water kicking and screaming.

Though other areas of abuse may not receive whole chapters, most get some attention. We read about a horrifying mass dolphin slaughter and learn that a few animals, rather than being killed, are allowed "to live out their days at a place called Izumito Sea Paradise, delighting crowds with their tricks and play." We are told that baby elephants used in circuses and other exotic animals found in the pet trade are acquired in a similar fashion. We read about the sad lives of circus elephants and learn that Ringling Brothers' is supporting efforts to lift the ban on ivory sales. There is a terrific section on the excesses of and inexcusable cruelties visited upon animals in biomedical research.

Other issues are covered briefly: Scully mentions that many zoos sell sick or elderly animals to hunting ranches. He refers to bear bile farming, discusses bow hunting, and he offers some caustic comment on fur as fashion.

Now I share my disappointments:

Though Scully's arguments for vegetarianism are strong, he writes off veganism with "Using animals for milk and wool and the like is perfectly acceptable provided they and their young are treated humanely, as they are on smaller farms." (P. 28.)
Perhaps Scully, like many vegetarians, has failed to notice that the fate of the dairy cow is the same as the fate of the beef cow or steer, regardless of the size of the farm; approximately eighty percent of hamburger meat in the US comes from dairy cows. And the life of a dairy cow includes much suffering regardless of the size of the farm. Scully quotes Temple Grandin: "When cows are weaned, both the cows and calves bellow for about twenty-four hours." (p. 245.)

Some might think the maternal longing is mitigated because, after all, she is only a cow. However a cow doesn't amuse herself with writing or reading books and watching television, or concern herself with her career and wonder how long she should stay away from it in order to care for her baby but still "have it all." To a cow, raising her young is "it all." And when we deprive her of that one joy in order to satisfy the odd human craving for the milk of another species, the distress, the bellowing, is on our account. Why should our mercy not include her?

Then there is the vivisection of Peter Singer. I would expect a catholic, pro-life, conservative speechwriter to take offense at some of Singer's views but I was disappointed by their misrepresentation. Scully tells us that Singer supports infanticide but fails to mention that Singer's arguments pertain to severely, usually painfully, disabled babies whose parents do not want them kept alive and who nobody else wishes to adopt. Perhaps the twelve page attack on Singer's views unrelated to animal welfare are included in order to burnish Scully's right wing, conservative credentials as he moves into a field more commonly inhabited by the morally questionable Liberals on the Left.

The following lines appalled me:
"In the same way, animal liberationists who turn to Peter Singer for guidance must ask themselves how we can protect vulnerable animals from the caprice of man if we do not protect vulnerable people, the sick, the aged, the newborn and the unborn -- how it is possible to love cats and dogs and baby seals if we do not love the most innocent and defenseless of human beings." (p. 311)

Peter Singer gives twenty percent of his income to largely human-centered charities such as Oxfam, and encourages those who turn to him for guidance to make similar sacrifices. This is hardly a rejection of the sick, aged, newborn or defenseless; in fact, Singer's personal dedication to the issue of poverty makes the accusation bizarre. Scully may be concerned about Singer's disregard for the unborn but he has no right to make sweeping false accusations.

My disappointments aside, I am thrilled that Matthew Scully has chosen to turn his formidable and well-respected intellect and passionate attention to the matter of animal protection. Scully's eloquent argument aimed not at animal rights activists but at those most likely to be resistant to the animal rights movement, could widen the circle of those who take the issue of animal protection seriously. Thus I hope wholeheartedly for Dominion's success and influence.

Rating:
Summary: Beyond eloquent--a fantastic read.
Review: This is, in any topic area, one of the best written books I've ever read. Everyone should read it for the simple pleasure of reading something that is so flawlessly constructed.

The Humane Society of the United States' vice president, Wayne Pacelle, expects that this book "will be the most influential book on animal protection in the last twenty-five years." I found the book to be fast-paced, eloquent and powerfully argued.

Christopher Hitchens, in his November 2002 review for the Atlantic Monthly, gives the book two thumbs up. On October 13, 2002, the Washington Post also printed an excellent review.

Basically, I loved it.

Rating:
Summary: Human beings should not rationalize away their cruelty
Review: Matthew Scully's Dominion is not to be quickly perused and immediately forgotten. I have already read this seminal work from cover to cover--and take it for granted that I must reacquaint myself with its powerful arguments at least every other month. Scully is definitely not your typical bleeding heart Liberal. On the contrary, the author's conservative credentials are solidly established. He has served as both a speech writer for President George W. Bush and contributing editor to the National Review. Scully's vegetarianism, however, places him in an awkward predicament within this cultural milieu. Even neo-conservative animal lovers such as myself have no intention whatsoever in ceasing to eat meat. He knows this to be the case but hopes to persuade us to alleviate the suffering of these animals as much as possible. Perhaps more troubling is the moral dilemma of animals enduring pain and death in medical research projects. Where should we draw the line? Moreover, must an animal suffer merely to assist humankind in the development of a better shampoo or other beauty products?

Matthew Scully fortunately is not in the same camp as the secularist philosopher, Peter Singer. Animals are not equal to us. The theistic contention that humans have dominion over the animal kingdom is also the author's position. They lack our intelligence and therefore find themselves unable to sufficiently thwart our will. Yet, isn't this a reason why we should go out of our way to be kind to these mostly helpless creatures? Why do so many religious adherents seem so indifferent to the unnecessary harm caused to these sentient members of the animal kingdom? Have many people loyal to the wisdom of the Old Testament misunderstood God's will in this matter? Did God supposedly give us the right to treat animals as mere commodity products? Scully does not hesitate to take to task those conservatives who refuse to honestly confront the issue of animal cruelty. Many of these folks cowardly hide behind sarcasm and viscous ridicule instead of seriously discussing these issues.

And yes, Dominion deserves five stars. This book should be read and discussed by everyone claiming to be just and humane. The radical Liberals have for far too long monopolized this debate. It's time for other conservative thinkers to join Matthew Scully and begin thinking hard and long regarding our treatment of those lesser creatures who share the planet with us.

Rating:
Summary: Starts with a Bang, Ends with a Whimper
Review: As "Dominion" is the first animal welfare/animal rights book written by a Republican, I was driven to read it out of curiosity. In it, Scully lays out a compelling argument against animal exploitation; yet, he seems to backtrack in his final chapters, diluting his thesis and offering excuses for those who would rather make superficial changes.

Rather than just hurling statistics at the reader (as some animal rights books seem to do), Scully attempts to illustrate several instances of animal exploitation with personal narratives. In order to explain the absurdity of hunting - particularly big game hunting - Scully attends the 1999 convention of the Safari Club International; he details the folly of the world's wildlife management philosophy from his seat at the 2000 meeting of the International Whaling Commission; and he offers a firsthand look at the horrors of modern factory farms, along with the callousness and disregard of those who are responsible. While Scully does manage to interweave his accounts with facts, figures, and philosophy, the book is far from dry. Instead, "Dominion" reads more like a novel, and a terrifying one at that: much of what Scully asserts will sicken you.

Throughout the first 350 pages of "Dominion", Scully lays out a cogent argument for animal rights, without ever using the term "animal rights". Thus, the reader is left wondering whether Scully is an animal rights advocate or an animal welfarist (and yes, there's a world of difference between the two!). In this manner, he never fully articulates his beliefs. He also dismisses philosophical arguments for animal rights/welfare in favor of religion - at best, a silly idea. While I understand that the book is aimed largely at Christians, it's still pure folly to cast off all semblance of logic in the name of religion. The animal rights movement is incredibly diverse, and the different types arguments reflect this. Appealing to one's sense of mercy (hence the book's subtitle, "The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy") may convince certain segments of society to repent their animal-exploiting ways, but other people may require different routes of persuasion, logic included. Not to mention, the animal rights (and even welfare, to a lesser extent) movement is commonly accused of being devoid of logic and riddled with sentimentality - Scully's advice certainly wouldn't help correct this stereotype.

Despite these flaws, I was still impressed with "Dominion" - until I got to the final chapter. Though Scully seems unequivocal in his condemnation of meat-eating (as it's cruel, unnecessary, and harmful to the environment), in the end he merely calls for more humane standards. I'm sorry, but killing is in and of itself inhumane - when it comes to killing for food or fun, there's no such thing as a humane death. For humans, meat's pure lack of necessity negates humaneness. Though I am myself a vegan, I'm not even quibbling over the merits of vegetarianism vs. veganism here - Scully makes a great case for going veg, and then offers a "get out of jail free" card for those who would rather keep on eating meat - never mind the dairy. There's no such thing as "human decency" when needlessly killing (not to mention torturing) billions of animals a year because of preferences, convenience or tradition.

Some reviewers have expressed their satisfaction that "Dominion" isn't just another radical, zealous, foaming-at-the-mouth animal rights book. Well, it isn't - but that's because it isn't an animal rights book at all. For whatever reason, Scully chose the easy way out after setting forth an impassioned argument in favor of animal rights. He set the stage for a call to end all forms of animal exploitation - but in the end, he merely called for greater regulation. It was quite disappointing, since I was at first under the impression that we finally had an ally on the right.

Despite Scully's moral schizophrenia, I still enjoyed the bulk of the book, which is why I gave it more than the 1 star I would have otherwise. Nonetheless, "Dominion" started with an impressive bang, and ended with a self-serving, compliant little whimper.

Rating:
Summary: The problem is domination
Review: The sexist title of this book "The Power of Man..." should be reason alone to avoid this conservative book. Since Scully has labored as Bush's speech writer, he's far from an enlightened boat-rocker. The best advice is to stop eating animals, and to avoid wasting time bolstering Scully's view that animals are in need of management. Humans should manage their own numbers, for starters. -- Priscilla Feral, President, Friends of Animals, Inc.

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Summary: What is Good/Not good ?Need We Ask Any One To Tell Us
Review: The argument that mercy is an intangible is cowardly. Mercy is a part of our genetic history, though mostly reciprocol in nature. One can seek to muffle the stirrings of our emotional core, finding safety in self serving, relativism or seek truth in our common sociobiology (YES, OUR GENETIC, EMOTIONAL, MAKEUP).
Mr. Scully, conservative speech writer, is the perfect one to remind us of the inspirational metaphores within the bible. Do we need an argument on the relative nature of mercy to tell us that splitting the sternum of a living primate in order to see its lungs heave is wrong. If that act is wrong then is sinking an electrode into a dogs opened scull any less wrong.
Thank You Mr. Scully

Rating:
Summary: Well-intentioned international inventory of animal abuses
Review: Unquestionably well written and thoughtful, Dominion does little to break the stalemate between those who treat animals with compassion and those who feel no remorse exploiting them for any number of ends. Ultimately, the author's refusal to examine the philosophical, rational justifications for curtailing animal abuses leaves the reader in a morass of subjective arguments based on intangibles such as mercy and compassion. After distancing himself from the efforts of Peter Singer (a seminal figure in the arena of animal rights), Mr. Scully offers up his own half hearted approach to protecting animals from the excesses of humans grounded in religion and based upon nebulous terms like charity and mercy. At no point in history have such concepts been able to positively influence the way humanity deals with one another, much less animals. For example, Mr. Scully considers enlightened animal husbandry a form of mercy while a hunter considers a clean kill to be a form of mercy; the two cannot be reconciled via pleas and admonitions to live within the "christian" paradigm of mercy. Rather, by placing animals below humans in the hierarchy of existence, his approach once again reinforces the notion that we, as superior beings, ought to know best how to arrange their lives. Coupled with instinctive self-interest, a defining trait of the human condition, animal welfare will always lose out.

Because of this critical shortcoming, the book - though eloquent - is little more than a catalog of abuses all too familiar for those already active in the landscape of animal rights. Those unfamiliar with the topic, if they read such a book, will undoubtedly be outraged to learn what is done with their tacit approval. The chilling language of the corporate managers of factory farms, concerned only with efficient production, will give meat eaters pause as they tuck into their breakfast sausage. Likewise, the morbid and bloodthirsty glee of modern day hunters should give the whole, cowardly industry a black eye. The list goes on and on, pointing out the hypocrisy and obstructionism of whalers, furriers and vivisectionists. Read this book to spark righteous indignation. Read it to learn about those who exploit animals for fun and profit. Read it to learn the language of the bible and the conservative right. But don't read it to find answers. Simply accepting that society can act with compassion does not get to the heart of the problem. As long as individuals can justify their actions within a subjective framework of "mercy" or "dominion," animals will continue to be treated abysmally in the name of nutrition, science, fashion, and sport.

Rating:
Summary: I Only Wish There Was More to Read!
Review: Firstly let me state that after I finished this incredible book I truly walked around feeling that Mister Matthew Scully was the most Honest, Sensible Reasonable man walking the planet; that's how truthful and heart-changing this publication is. THEN I read courtesy of his website his Election-Day 2004 loving ode to George W Bush and I'm afraid I was wrong about the sensible part. _Sigh_ I guess nobody's perfect...
That said, Mr.Scully's composition is a nearly perfect piece of work on an extremely touchy subject. I won't eat meat simply because I've always felt a vague moral ignorance and even evil associated with it; up until I learned where meat really came from I believed my mother that steaks were surgically removed from cows.
"Dominion" brought those vague feelings out into the open and then some. I really nearly damn cried at several points only because these animals just don't get break until they're just dead. There is so MUCH disregard and cruelty to life that does'nt make any sense. Oh help us all. But read this book. You won't be bored and if you have a concious you'll finish it as a new person.