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It took me a long time to finish this book, but not because of anything inherently wrong about the book or its merits. On the contrary, the heartbreaking commentary on the suffering of animals at the hands of our fellow world citizens, and the complicity that all of us have, in one form or another, in this awful state of being, is overwhelming and heart-wrenching. I could only take so much at one sitting. I shed more than a few tears as Matthew Scully outlined the travesties perpetrated on our factory farms, the poaching and killing of so many endangered creatures in the wild kingdoms of Africa, Asia, and elsewhere, the exploiting of marine mammals & other marine species to the point of near extinction, the horrific treatment of lab animals, cruelty done to zoo, racing, and circus animals in the name of entertainment, the horrors of the fur trade around the world, and all of it done in the name of "dominion over the creatures of the earth". I don't think all this suffering and killing is what God had in mind when he gave man dominion over the earth. And, even if man at one point in his existence relied more heavily out of necessity on animal products for sustenance, options are available today that make the need for the slaughtering of millions of sentient creatures year after year unnecessary. Scully's arguments are profound, bolstered by scholarly works throughout the ages, and biblical scriptures. Man should be a wise steward over the earth and its creatures, and what we are currently doing is not wise or merciful. Laws desperately need to be enacted in America and throughout the world that ensure the humane treatment of animals in all situations, and prescribe serious punishment to those who would break those laws. Some European countries are taking the lead by banning gestation crates, battery cages for chickens, and veal crates. America needs to follow suit and start reforming by legal statutes, the cruel factory farming practices that have developed over the years. Even if you still want to eat meat after reading a book like this, the animals that you consume should have the right to a minimal standard of care and living conditions appropriate to their species, until they are called on to be sacrificed for your dining pleasure. Their end should be a merciful death, not the kind that is seen in slaughter-houses throughout the world today, where they are often cut up or boiled while still alive as they move through the conveyors by the millions, year in and year out! We should all be willing to pay more at the store for the privilege of eating our fellow peaceable creatures, who've done nothing to deserve the fate that we have foisted upon them, and at the very least, ensure that they don't suffer inhumanely for our appetites. The call to mercy in this book is eloquent and boldly proclaimed. Scully is absolutely the best author I have read on the subject of animal welfare. If you have any compassion toward animals, you would do well to read this book.