Why Animals Matter Animal Consciousness, Animal Welfare, and Human Well-being

Presents an urgent argument for the need to rethink animal welfare. In the vein of Temple Grandin's work, Dawkins explains that this welfare must be made to work in practice to have any effect, and cannot be tinged by anthropomorphism and claims of animal consciousness, which lack firm empirical evidence and are often freighted with controversy and high emotions. Instead, animal-welfare efforts must focus on science and on fully appreciating the critical role animals play in human welfare. With growing concern over such issues as climate change and food shortages, how we treat those animals on which we depend for survival needs to be put squarely on the public agenda.