Book Description

“By investigating the . . . connection between the . . . shelter and the community . . . vastly expands . . . notions of intersectionality, democracy, and inclusivity.” —Leslie Irvine, American Journal of Sociology Monster is an adult pit bull, muscular and grey, who is impounded in a large animal shelter in Los Angeles. Like many other dogs at the shelter, Monster is associated with marginalized humans and assumed to embody certain behaviors because of his breed. And like approximately one million shelter animals each year, Monster will be killed. The Lives and Deaths of Shelter Animals takes us inside one of the country's highest-intake animal shelters. Katja M. Guenther witnesses the dramatic variance in the narratives assigned different animals, including Monster, which dictate their chances for survival. She argues that these inequalities are powerfully linked to human ideas about race, class, gender, ability, and species. Guenther deftly explores internal hierarchies, breed discrimination, and importantly, instances of resistance and agency. “Powerful and timely. . . . Katja M. Guenther unlocks the shelter door and eloquently explains this complicated and contested multispecies space, as she reflects on issues such as witnessing, vulnerability, advocacy, grievability, compassion, and animal resistance.” —Carol J. Adams, author of The Sexual Politics of Meat “In this compassionate, incisive ethnography . . . Katja M. Guenther illuminates the entangled injustices that shape human relationships with other animals.” —Lori Gruen, author of Entangled Empathy “With the perfect balance of intimacy and analytical depth, the author reminds us of how messy things can get when caring and killing become one, or when the value of the animal companion's life is measured by the race, gender, and zip code of the owner.” —Bénédicte Boisseron, author of Afro-Dog