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The fate of animals in disasters depends on practical solutions informed by compassion and common sense
Filling the Ark
Animal Welfare in Disasters
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Leslie Irvine
"Filling the Ark is a fascinating combination of scholarship, public policy, and animal advocacy. Leslie Irvine examines the plight of animals in the face of man-made and natural disasters in light of larger issues associated with our society's ambivalence about the moral status of other species. The writing is excellent and the author's first hand experiences rescuing companion animals during Hurricane Katrina are compelling."
—Harold Herzog, Department of Psychology, Western Carolina University
When disasters strike, people are not the only victims. Hurricane Katrina raised public attention about how disasters affect dogs, cats, and other animals considered members of the human family. In this short but powerful book, noted sociologist Leslie Irvine goes beyond Katrina to examine how disasters like oil spills, fires, and other calamities affect various animal populations—on factory farms, in research facilities, and in the wild.
Filling the Ark argues that humans cause most of the risks faced by animals and urges for better decisions about the treatment of animals in disasters. Furthermore, it makes a broad appeal for the ethical necessity of better planning to keep animals out of jeopardy. Irvine not only offers policy recommendations and practical advice for evacuating animals, she also makes a strong case for rethinking our use of animals, suggesting ways to create more secure conditions.
Excerpt
Reviews
"In exploring our relationships with companion animals, factory farm animals, birds and marine wildlife, and research animals, [Irvine] not only discusses how manmade and natural catastrophes like oil spills and hurricanes have affected animals but also urges us to rethink our use of animals as we often put them in harm’s way. With firsthand experience in rescuing pets during Hurricane Katrina, Irvine offers valuable advice for avoiding mass casualties in disaster situations."
—Library Journal
"This is a clarion call to civil society for a disaster preparedness that includes all animals, wild and domestic, especially the most vulnerable who are confined in laboratories, zoos, and factory farms. Be they human or animal, as Irvine shows, the more oppressed and exploited, the more is the suffering when disaster strikes."
—Michael W. Fox, DSc, PhD, veterinarian, and author of Bringing Life to Ethics: Global Bioethics for a Humane Society
"In Filling the Ark, Professor Irvine discusses an important area in animal rights and animal welfare scholarship. By sharing her personal perspective and experiences in a book based on extensive research on consequences for animals in disasters, Irvine creates a highly informative and very readable package."
—Marsha L. Baum, Professor of Law, University of New Mexico, and author of When Nature Strikes: Weather Disasters and the Law
"Sociologist Irvine studies how natural disasters affect the animals that live with us.... [She] examines how disaster-response decisions involving animals are made.... [A]s the Katrina disaster demonstrated... animals were either abandoned as their owners fled or were forcibly left behind when rescuers refused to allow the evacuation of pets. Animals on factory farms comprise 98 percent of the domestic animals living in the U.S., and yet the conditions under which they live make them extremely vulnerable when a disaster strikes. Finally, animals in research facilities are most vulnerable to loss of power, which shuts off ventilation and air-conditioning. In each section, Irvine offers suggestions as to how the loss of animal lives can be averted."
—Booklist
"In Filling the Ark, author Leslie Irvine weaves a tale that is both eye-opening and tragic.... Irvine does animal welfarists, humanitarians and aid workers a great service by putting all the pieces together in one place, and showing how cultural views, economic challenges, racism, and inadequate infrastructure combine to create disasters within disasters. It is not necessarily the hurricane that is tragic, she suggests, but our response to it is.... The biggest issue now, it seems, is — how can we get this book into the hands of people who will listen, and who have the power to implement these changes?"
—Animal Inventory Blog
"Irvine brings to light many examples of where disaster planning and emergency response have been wholly inadequate in protecting the welfare of animals.... On the basis of her first hand experience and extensive research she makes recommendations for disaster planning and policy, but her ambitions are larger than this; she makes the case for a larger re-appraisal of our use of animals. In writing Filling the Ark, Irvine poses important questions...What emerges is a sobering account covering public policy, the practicalities of handling animals in emergencies and animal advocacy....Filling the Ark provides a consistent and compelling argument on how we could, and should, be doing more through our emergency management practices to ensure the welfare of animals."
—The Australian Journal of Emergency Management
"Irvine uses natural disasters as a springboard for discussion of the ethics of our relationships with animals.... This is a deeply felt and carefully thought out book, which will be of interest to anyone interested in animals and disasters, either together or separately."
—Natural Hazards Observer
"The author illustrates that humans are not the only victims in disasters and are often at fault for the perils animals suffer. She argues that it is our own decisions and actions that 'make animals so vulnerable to disasters' and offers advice on the multiple ways animals may be made less vulnerable, not the least of which is to rethink 'our uses of animals."
—Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly
Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Companion Animals
2. Animals on Factory Farms
3. Birds and Marine Wildlife
4. Animals in Research Facilities
Conclusion: Noah’s Task
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author(s)
 | Leslie Irvine is Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Colorado at Boulder and the author of two previous books, including If you Tame Me: Understanding Our Connection with Animals (Temple). |
Subject Categories
Animals and Society
Nature and the Environment
Philosophy and Ethics
In the series
Animals and Ethics, edited by Marc Bekoff.