Ever wondered what could possibly possess someone to abuse an animal or why otherwise kindhearted people can turn a blind eye to practices that cause suffering? Then read Our Symphony With Animals by respected neurologist and longtime PETA supporter Aysha Akhtar, M.D. This new book about empathy for and connection with other animals addresses many of the issues that PETA focuses on, including the link between animal abuse and human abuse and the myth of “humane” meat.

Throughout her narrative, Akhtar reflects on abusive situations from her childhood—and the way speaking up for an abused animal companion gave her the strength to speak up for herself. This book explores why humans rationalize cruel behavior and consider certain unkind practices to be “normal,” often putting animals in categories that make it easier to excuse cruelty.

Here is just some of the research that Akhtar did to write her book:

• She met with serial killer Keith Jesperson, who told her about the many animals—and women—he killed before being incarcerated. He once wrote a letter to the editor of his local paper, warning people about the link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans. He observed, “People have a tendency to separate the two, animals and humans. One life is the same as another. They both struggle to stay alive.”
• She toured an egg farm, where—remarkably—the farmer brought up T. Colin Campbell’s The China Study and said that he was vegetarian himself and, actually, “more vegan now,” because eggs are high in cholesterol. At the same time, he spoke proudly about his “free range, organic” hens, many of whom endured the same wire flooring as other hens in crowded sheds.
• Akhtar asked an industrial pig farmer who had been talking about gestation crates how he moved the pigs between rooms, since they wouldn’t have exercised their legs in months. He chuckled and said, “Well, it’s actually quite easy. You’d be surprised how much they like to walk.”
• She spoke with former animal experimenter John Gluck, who used to receive protest letters from PETA members and other kind people. One really affected him. Someone had written, “Knowing you’re there doing what you do… it has harmed me.” Gluck told Akhtar, “I got into this work to alleviate harm, not create it.”

Check out Our Symphony With Animals to learn how the well-being of humans and other animals is “entwined.”