Survival at Stake: How Our Treatment of Animals Is Key to Human Existence by Poorva Joshipura

HarperCollins

presents 

Survival at Stake

How Our Treatment of Animals Is Key to Human Existence 

by Poorva Joshipura

How hunting wildlife leads to pandemics and epidemics, how the production of meat destroys forests and causes climate change, how blood sports hurt both humans and animals, how
animal experimentation is often a threat to public health, how cruelty to animals leads
to violent crimes against humans, and other issues.

In Survival at Stake, leading animal rights activist Poorva Joshipura describes how key crises affecting us today – including climate change, pollution, pandemics like COVID-19, epidemics, antibiotic resistance, and more – are directly linked to our treatment of animals.
She gives us an essential roadmap to change these worrying trends.

 Paperback | Environment and Nature | Animal Rights | 352 pp | Rs 499

Available Wherever Books Are Sold | Releasing 23 October 2023

 

*****

 

“Today, Earth and all the animals – including humans – who live on it are in crisis. And that’s
why Poorva’s book is so vital, especially for my children Avyaan and Samaira, for your children,
and for our future generations. This book comes at a crucial time.”

—From the Foreword by Dia Mirza

“Compassion is good economics, good science, even the best weapon against climate change. Survival at Stake shows us there is hope for humans if we can learn to treat other species
with respect and understanding.”

—Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, member of Parliament, Lok Sabha,
member of the Bharatiya Janata Party, and author of Heads and Tails

 

Author Poorva Joshipura says, “What do animal rights have to do with human well-being? Everything. Knowing what we do today about animal sentience and intelligence, increasingly more people agree that we cannot ethically justify disregarding their feelings or denying them protection from harm simply because of who they are. But there’s another reason to support animal rights: the philosophy that all other sentient beings deserve the right to live free from human exploitation and abuse, which is the recognition that their well-being is intertwined with our own.”

Associate Publisher Swati Chopra, HarperCollins India, says, “With her new book, Survival at Stake, Poorva Joshipura makes an impassioned case for treating animals with compassion — because their well-being is deeply interrelated with our own. Ably argued and compellingly written, this book shows just how human and animal welfare is one and the same, and why becoming aware of this fundamental fact will enable us to become better equipped to care for our shared earth.”

*****

 

ABOUT THE BOOK

With science now recognizing animal consciousness, intelligence, emotion, and even morality, there must come an awareness of our own moral responsibilities towards other beings. But there’s another reason to consider animals’ well-being – because it’s intertwined with our own.

In Survival at Stake, leading animal rights activist Poorva Joshipura argues passionately that, evolutionarily, humans are far more like other animals than we care to believe. She examines how hunting wildlife leads to pandemics and epidemics, which, in turn, harm us; how the production of meat destroys forests and causes climate change, which, in turn, destroys us; how blood sports hurt both humans and animals; how leather production damages the environment and human health; how animal experimentation is often a threat to public health; how cruelty to animals leads to violent crimes; and other issues.

It’s Joshipura’s view that if we reject speciesism – the belief in human superiority – and accept that we are animals, too, irrevocably interconnected to other species, from the largest elephant to the smallest bee, and a part of nature, rather than holding dominance over it, we can take the necessary steps towards the betterment of all the planet’s inhabitants.

 

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Poorva Joshipura is the author of For a Moment of Taste: How What You Eat Impacts Animals, the Planet and Your Health (2020). She is the senior vice president of international affairs for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) Foundation UK, through which she oversees numerous global PETA entity operations and projects. She is the former chief executive officer of PETA India and the former director of PETA UK. Early on in her career, she also worked in various capacities for PETA US. She’s a member of the board of directors for PETA India and the former co-opted member of the government body the Animal Welfare Board of India. Poorva is also an advisor to Animal Rahat, an organization that aims to help some of the most neglected animals in the world, and to the Petra veterinary clinic, which does similar work in Jordan.

Poorva’s award-winning work involves stopping cruelty to animals used for experimentation, food, clothing, and entertainment or abused in any other way in countries around the world. She has personally conducted undercover investigations into places where animals are used and has overseen numerous other investigations. Her work for animals extends to courtrooms, corporate boardrooms, government offices, police stations, college campuses, schools, and the streets through rescue and emergency response efforts. Poorva has led many campaigns that have been widely covered by major news agencies around the world. She is a regular guest on television news and radio shows, through which she encourages viewers and listeners to be considerate to animals. She speaks about animal rights at universities and other events and can usually be found in London, Mumbai, Delhi, or Wadi Musa.

 

PRAISE FOR THE BOOK

“Engaging and highly readable, Survival at Stake shows why it is essential that we reform our relationships with other animals to safeguard our environment and ensure good public health.”

—Dr Andrew Knight, veterinary professor of animal welfare and ethics, founding director
of the University of Winchester Centre for Animal Welfare, and adjunct professor in the School
of Environment and Science, Griffith University, Queensland

 

“Survival at Stake targets some of the most pressing crises facing us: the stagnation of medical research, the rise in pandemics and antibiotic resistance, and climate change and environmental destruction – and presents us with food for thought and a disaster exit ramp.”

—Dr Aysha Akhtar, MD, MPH, CEO of the Center for Contemporary Sciences, and author
of Our Symphony with Animals

 

“We are nothing without good health, so a huge cheer to Survival at Stake for doing the homework that allows us to see how not only to survive but to thrive.”

—Dr Nandita Shah, recipient of the Nari Shakti Puraskar, founder of SHARAN India, and author of Reversing Diabetes in 21 Days

 

“The sooner we humans accept that we have to live by higher standards than we have been, towards all life, plants, fungi, creatures from land and sea, the sooner we will get into balance with nature and take the pressure off all ecosystems. My advice is to follow the useful guide in this book to help save our own species and the planet.”

—Jennifer Helen Jones, The Baroness Jones of Moulsecoomb and member of the House of Lords (UK) affiliated with the Green Party

 

“There is absolutely no doubt that a vast array of diverse nonhuman animals (animals) are sentient and have rich and deep emotional lives. The important question is not if animals are emotional beings, but why emotions have evolved and why it is essential to pay careful attention to these
well-established scientific facts in all of our interactions with them. We also know that caring for nonhumans spills over into caring for humans, and Poorva Joshipura’s wise words show that when we treat other animals with respect, dignity and compassion, it’s a win-win for all. Survival at Stake is a must-read for a global audience, and animals around the world will thank us for doing so.”

—Dr Marc Bekoff, PhD, professor emeritus of ecology and evolutionary biology, University of Colorado–Boulder, and author of The Animals’ Agenda

 

“Whatever you think you know about the instant world emergency, you don’t, not the half of it, until you read between the covers of this book. At one and the same time, its global reach, combined with its terrifying detail, astonishes, informs, and shocks. As humans, we have no right bestowed by any secular or spiritual authority to treat our planet and all life upon it as if it were our property to be exploited as we wish. We are not owners, nor superiors, but custodians with duties of care and respect. By the time you finish reading, you will not be able to sit still any longer. Silence and inaction are not options where survival is at stake.”

—Michael Mansfield, King’s Counsel barrister and author of The Power in the People, Not the People in Power

 

“Animal and human well-being are intertwined, and Poorva makes that crystal clear. She convinces us that we simply cannot afford to continue to turn a blind eye to animals’ suffering, and the repercussions this is having on the world we share with them. Be kind and think where your food is coming from – anything that involves blood, tears, and suffering is not meant to be on our plate.”

—Mimi Chakraborty, actor, singer, member of Parliament, Lok Sabha, and member of the
All India Trinamool Congress

 

“Survival at Stake may be the most fascinating and troubling book you will ever read. Tracing the path that brought us HIV, COVID-19 and other killers, it shows exactly how to protect against future threats. More than a wake-up call, it is an alarm bell for environmental and health risks, along with a well-mapped escape route. The real gift of this book is its optimism. It shows how the steps that protect our health and those that protect our planet and the animals with whom we share it are one and the same.”

—Dr Neal D. Barnard, MD, FACC, adjunct professor of medicine at George Washington University School of Medicine, president of the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington, DC, and author of The Power of Your Plate

 

“Joshipura inspires us to be solutions-driven in our fashion and other choices so as to effectively tackle cruelty to animals, pollution, and other grave problems we face today.”

—Nicole Rawling, chief executive officer and co-founder of Material Innovation Initiative

 

*****

 

For reviews, excerpts, interviews, and more information, please contact Vandana Rathore at

vandana.rathore@harpercollins.co.in