A must-read book for anybody who is interested in learning about and improving human-animal relations.

The author stresses the importance of people representing different fields and views talking with one another.

He smoothly weaves in science, stories, religion, and spirituality and offers a much needed pillar of hope.

The book stresses that every moment of every day each human lives and acts in a more-than-human world.

The study and nature of human-animal relationships is not only a "hot" area of interdisciplinary research by scholars representing many diverse areas, but also of great interest to numerous humans who "meet" nonhuman animals (animals) in a wide variety of contexts. Indeed, a scientific field of inquiry called anthrozoology focuses on the myriad ways we encounter animals and the various ways we interact with them.

For these and many other reasons, I am thrilled that one of anthrozoology's finest, the eclectic Dr. Paul Waldau's new book titled The Animal Invitation: Science, Ethics, Religion and Law in a More-than-Human World, is now available for consumption by people directly and indirectly interested in learning about and improving how we interact with a wide variety of animals ranging from household companions to wild neighbors to individuals of species most of us will never see up close and personal. On a personal note, Paul has been my mentor for many decades.

Marc Bekoff: Why did you write The Animal Invitation?

Paul Waldau: I wanted to memorialize the growth and development of my views while I directed two graduate programs that offered science-based degrees focused on animal protection issues. Teaching gifted students for several decades led me to recognize that any truly enlightening approach to “the animal question” must be multi-disciplinary. Such an approach produces dynamic learning not only in science but also in three other key areas—ethics, religion, and law. These insights prompted the subtitle Science, Ethics, Religion and........

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