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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
Yes, Virginia, your puppy does have a soul!, 17 Jun 2002
In Drawing The Line, animal-rights attorney and law professor Steven M. Wise reprises and extends the arguments he presented in his highly successful first book, Rattling The Cage, on behalf of the legal personhood of chimpanzees and bonobos to that of gorillas, orangutans, dolphins, parrots, elephants, dogs, and honeybees, comparing their abilities to think, reason, remember, deceive, and play-act with those of his precocious four year-old son, Christopher. His goal is simply and modestly stated: "Shifts occur only after people come to believe that something is possible. Making the argument that at least some nonhuman animals should have basic legal rights and be recognized as legal persons is the first step toward informing policymakers, judges, and the public about what is known, and, therefore, attaining the goal." In the process, Professor Wise both confirms with scholarly and scientific citations what the reader intuitively expects - namely, that primates are more intelligent than other forms of animal life - and avoids such excesses as advocating vegetarianism which have too often vitiated the polemics of activists in the field. Like Rattling The Cage, Drawing The Line is highly readable, informative, educative, and entertaining. As Milton said, "A good book is the life blood of a master spirit," a classification to which the learned Professor Wise clearly belongs.
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