Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy [Kindle Edition]

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.

I had been avoiding reading Matthew Scully's Dominion for months. Avoiding it because I knew it would enrage, upset and embarrass me. And once I did pick up the book and commit to reading it, my predictions were dead on. This powerful, emotionally draining and gut-wrenching book about the systematic abuse and widespread slaughter of animals enraged me as a compassionate person, upset me as a lover of animals, and embarrassed me as a human being who has blindly taken part in the chain of abuse.

Scully, a former Special Assistant and speech writer to President George W. Bush, surprises me first and foremost in that his background as a Republican is not something I would immediately associate with animal rights. Yet he clearly feels deeply about the subject, and that comes through loud and clear in this intricately detailed, impassioned examination of the ways we humans have abused our guardianship position and made animals into virtual slaves of our own needs, desires, passions and greed.

From the horrors of factory farming, where massive numbers of cows, sheep, pigs and veal calves are treated like machines to produce our food, to the disgusting antics of the wealthy hunters who pay tens of thousands of dollars to kill exotic wildlife, to the brutal slaughter of seal pups, lab animals, precious and rare elephants, and whales (called "living marine resources" by the men who clamor for more lethal means to kill them with), this book leaves no stone unturned in its unflinching look at the myriad ways humans mistreat other life forms. Scully also spends a lot of time countering the ridiculous arguments of religious leaders, scientists and even sportsmen that animals do not feel pain, have no souls, and therefore are ours to do with as we please.

Scully takes us into whaling commission meetings, hog farms, science labs and canned hunts, and into the minds of the men who get their kicks - and even their paychecks - from brutalizing other living things. We listen to the reasoning and excuses of people who think animals are find to torture and kill because they don't think like us, talk like us, or feel like us. We hear the excuses, the arguments and even the motivations of those who engage in the suffering of animals for prosperity, knowledge, thrills and cheap hamburgers.

Eventually, the book leads us to the conclusion that we as a species have utterly failed our fellow creatures in every way. That we have been given a sense of dominion over the beasts of air and sea and earth seems to have given way to a righteous attitude of ownership, whereby we kill millions of animals each year for our own consumption, pleasure and control.

Dominion is not a book written by some animal rights wacko. It is written by a respected journalist and former literary editor of National Review, and a man who has worked under some of the most powerful Republican leaders. It is written with respect and restraint, honesty and directness, and a deep compassion for the creatures we have enslaved, even as we seek more, faster, cheaper, easier ways of living - all at their expense.

Scully's book is devastating, and will upset many readers, so be forewarned. This is not easy material to sit through, but it is important nonetheless. This call to mercy is one of the most powerful books I have ever tried to avoid reading. Denial may save us for awhile, but in the end, we need to face the truth, and then do something about it. As it says in the Book of Proverbs, "A righteous man regards the life of his animal." This book is a reminder that dominion and domination are two completely different things.

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.