Jeffrey Masson

Best-selling Author on the emotional lives of animals

“There is a growing movement in America, in Europe and now in New Zealand to think about our relationship to animals more carefully than we have in the past. The collective values of our Western society are changing rapidly; ecological sustainability is important for the maintenance of human life on our vulnerable planet. The ways we treat animals play a major role in this emerging ethic. Similarly, when we think about equity today we are more inclined than ever to consider the wider community of sentient beings, that is, all other animals, and not just the human animal. We are all embedded in social, cultural and environmental webs that are rapidly expanding; no longer can we simply look to our own personal good without considering that of all other beings who inhabit our planet.”

Jonathan Balcombe

Ethologist Scientist Author

“This beautifully produced manual presents creative and colourful ways to get students thinking critically about a pressing issue. Industrial egg production has significant implications for ethics, ecology and human health. For chickens’ sake, and our own, we can ill-afford to continue treating these birds—thinking, feeling creatures with wants and needs—as if they were so many blocks of wood. The New Zealand education system is fortunate to have this excellent resource, and I look forward to seeing subsequent issues in this series.”

Dr Annie Potts

Co-Director, New Zealand Centre for Human-Animal Studies - University of Canterbury

“The latest in SAFE’s comprehensive Animals & Us series for high school students focuses on key ethical debates regarding the use of nonhuman animals in scientific experiments. Animals in Science provides a vital resource for science and biology teachers who value and encourage independent scholarship and critical thinking in their students. Incorporating highly engaging, rigorously researched articles from leading biologists and ethologists, this beautifully designed learning resource prompts students to reconsider assumptions about other species and the place of animal experimentation in science. Animals in Science is unique in its inclusion of suggestions for non-invasive assessment projects that will motivate and inspire students to study science. These projects clearly demonstrate the validity and merit of alternatives to dissection and animal experimentation in the classroom. They also show how much fun science can be when it focuses on observing behaviours and sharing the experiences of other beings. I wholeheartedly recommend this exemplary resource to science teachers. I just wish it had been part of my own experience of science at school.”

Marc Bekoff

Professor Emeritus of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology at the University of Colorado

“As long as our society continues to keep others species confined for human entertainment, we need to understand better the effects on animals of depriving them of the company of their own kind, of crowding them in confined spaces and of removing them from the rich interactions of their natural environment. We need to ask what animals experience when we replace the challenges and excitement of their daily lives in the wild with the stifling, human-designed routines of day after day in a cage or tank. We also need to think about what we’re doing when we take our kids to seen animals confined in enclosures, or performing on stages, and tell them that this is what an elephant is like, this is how a lion behaves, this is how we preserve and respect nature. I'm delighted to recommend this resource is an excellent introduction to the wealth of new material that addresses these questions.”

Wendy Moffitt

Teacher in Charge of Junior English - Hamilton Boys' High School

“As a high school English teacher and SAFE member, I was absolutely delighted to receive a copy of the first "Animals and Us" resource on battery hen farming. The quality of the resource is outstanding and has provided us with a lot of material and information on this issue. One of the key themes in our junior English programme at Hamilton Boys' High School is "Amazing Animals" which is intended to foster compassionate attitudes towards our fellow Earthlings and raise student awareness of issues that affect both humans and animals, so it is great to receive such quality resources. Thank you very much for your efforts, and we will continue to fight the good fight in schools! Please keep the great material coming, we definitely appreciate it and are using it in our classrooms. Many thanks.”