As I learned all-too-well back in late 2016 when I published a review of Peter P. Marra’s & Chris Santella’s Cat Wars, entering into any discussion about the potential harm to the environment or ecosystem caused by companion animals is a sure way to incite the ire of a small but highly vocal portion of the human population.
After all, you can tell people that cats or dogs in general may – if not properly tended when out-of-doors – bring about negative effects to the local wildlife, but tell the owner of Mr. Wigglesbum that he will kill birds even if his tum-tum is full of Tender Vittles, or that even though Sadie can’t successfully catch any of the shorebirds the flocks of which she looks to be having so much fun charging into on the beach, her actions can sufficiently stress them to the point that they may fail to nest successfully, or accomplish their migration due to the extra energy expended fleeing from her and the inability to feed sufficiently to replace it, and there is a not insignificant chance that that person may react with anything from denial to aggression.
Therefore when the publicist form Island Press pitched Peter Christie‘s new book Unnatural Companions: Rethinking Our Love of Pets in an Age of Wildlife Extinction, I was initially hesitant. I don’t generally review books about companion animals, and I certainly don’t need the additional headache of hostile messages from the free-range cat fanciers or off-leash dog crowd.
However after giving it a bit of thought, I decided to entertain this book for possible review as it seems, upon cursory examination, to take up a number of worthwhile arguments that don’t fall into the usual “all-or-nothing” categories. He looks at not just how companion animal themselves may effect the larger environment, but also at the effects upon it by the practices of the larger pet industry itself, as well as how the decisions and choices that we as companion animal companions make regarding their daily care also have effects larger than we readily or easily imagine.
I’m looking forward to reading Unnatural Companions in full to learn more about what Mr. Christie has discovered in his research, and what recommendations has has to propose as a result.
