Coyote Yipps

I’m proud to have my work included in a new textbook! “Animal Welfare Science: An Interdisciplinary Guide”, by Emily Patterson-Kane and Tina Rich. Until this book, there has been no generalist textbook bridging traditional animal science and advocacy. Here you can find foundational knowledge and fresh perspectives, written in very accessible language. [This posting is extracted and quoted from an interview, the whole of which can be found here: https://www.routledge.com/rsc/downloads/CRC_Press_AW_2025_Rights_Guide.pdf]

The book examines the field’s complexity, weaving together not just the supposed objectivity of science, but also philosophy, ethology, economics, policy, evidence and stories. It refuses to be engulfed by the often suffocating orthodoxies of science and embraces the uneasy space where passion meets that science, and the political realities that shape research and practice.

It states that you don’t need to be a specialist to think critically—and curiosity and honesty matter more than rigid orthodoxy or dogma. If we try to stuff our understanding of animal welfare into a “my way or the highway” model of learning, we strangle its potential. Animal welfare is pluralistic, surprising, and constantly evolving.

At its core lies the question of consciousness: Opinions are divided. If animals don’t have consciousness and subjective experiences (i.e., they don’t feel good or bad) welfare is irrelevant; if they do, then “everything we do to them and for them becomes ethically weighty”. An exploration of some of the theories of consciousness reveals an extraordinary schism in the scientific world as classical approaches fail to reveal what the mind “is”. Instead, a few scientists are beginning to ask whether the scientific method can even provide an answer. Does mind really come from matter? Can the weird quantum world provide an answer?

Looking ahead, the authors stress that the real challenges are cultural and political—food systems, research ethics, inequality, and the post-truth era. Meeting them will depend on a new generation of scientists who are confident, creative, and unshackled from “thought” silos.

My work is described as [quoted from the book] a “motherlode of coyote behaviors, life stories, and most precious of all, [my] stunning photo-reportage. This is where animal watching turns into narrative ethology, storytelling across the human-animal divide. One of the key differences between Janet and others with self-taught expertise is her outreach.” The authors challenge the view of whose knowledge is authoritative. What follows is a four page spread with photos of what I’ve been doing in the coyote world and how I’ve been doing it. It’s an honor to be included in this first-in-its-field animal welfare science book. The book can be found on Amazon or on the publisher’s website.

https://www.routledge.com/Animal-Welfare-Science-An-Interdisciplinary-Guide/Patterson-Kane-Rich/p/book/9781032446363