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A review by roach
Tauben by Karin Schneider
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
4.5
While pets and wildlife have legal protection, even if they don't always experience it, the situation for threshold animals is precarious as soon as they come under human scrutiny. [...] They can only be saved by a positive outcome of the cost-benefit analysis which Homo oeconomicus tends to subject everything to. If they are not perceived as cute or beautiful, interesting or at least useful for some ecosystem, they are considered undesirable and superfluous, and it is only a small step to their elimination.
(Quote translated from German.)
Karin Schneider's portrait of pigeons is a textbook example of an animal that is suffering greatly from humans' egocentric perception of its usefulness to them.
After being one of civilization's most beloved and useful companions for centuries in several ways, pigeons were eventually discarded and are now demonized for "invading our space".
This book lovingly chronicles the history of the relationship between us humans and this bird in a fairly breezy but insightful way, and explores how we eventually pushed this unfair reputation onto them to justify our cruelty. Pigeons might be one of the biggest example for this phenomenon and their story is fascinating, but there are plenty of animals out there that we treat similarly and so this book becomes a lot more meaningful and important if one wants to live in harmony with the world we inhabit.
It's an engaging and easy read with lots of beautiful illustrations, and probably a must-read at least for city folk. It hopefully makes plenty of people re-evaluate how they think about the animals that we share this planet with.
Go and feed your local pigeons. With proper seeds and nuts, not bread and junk food.
They're ancestors of our communal pets and every insult someone throws their way is because of the desperate situation we have put them in. You might feel inconvenienced by them, but they are the actual victim here.
Karin Schneider's portrait of pigeons is a textbook example of an animal that is suffering greatly from humans' egocentric perception of its usefulness to them.
After being one of civilization's most beloved and useful companions for centuries in several ways, pigeons were eventually discarded and are now demonized for "invading our space".
This book lovingly chronicles the history of the relationship between us humans and this bird in a fairly breezy but insightful way, and explores how we eventually pushed this unfair reputation onto them to justify our cruelty. Pigeons might be one of the biggest example for this phenomenon and their story is fascinating, but there are plenty of animals out there that we treat similarly and so this book becomes a lot more meaningful and important if one wants to live in harmony with the world we inhabit.
It's an engaging and easy read with lots of beautiful illustrations, and probably a must-read at least for city folk. It hopefully makes plenty of people re-evaluate how they think about the animals that we share this planet with.
Go and feed your local pigeons. With proper seeds and nuts, not bread and junk food.
They're ancestors of our communal pets and every insult someone throws their way is because of the desperate situation we have put them in. You might feel inconvenienced by them, but they are the actual victim here.