Reviews for Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter

The average rating for Cat Culture: The Social World of a Cat Shelter based on 2 reviews is 3 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2012-03-09 00:00:00 Owen Rockwell This book presents a theoretical framework and the results of a sociological study of a cat shelter conducted by two sociologists and animal activists. Heavy on theory, the researchers use sociology to study animal culture in a way that is radically different than reductionist theories of biology. Because the researchers felt they were studying new ground, their argument is carefully constructed. As such, it is not the most fulfilling book for a cat lover. We see too little cat interactions and many of the conclusions regarding cat culture and how it developed collectively in the shelter were repeated too many times. Yet, it is a valuable book to read for cat shelter volunteers who may want to try something new at a shelter. Alger and Alger argue that the way that Whiskers, the no-kill shelter they studied, was run by its human volunteers opened up possibilities for cats to interact with each other and humans on their own terms. In doing so, they formed an egalitarian cat society, where strife and anger were kept to a minimum and usually demonstrate by new arrivals who hadn't yet been socialized to the shelter culture. Alger and Alger felt that a central factor in producing a harmonious atmosphere was the feral cat population in the shelter, who, as long time residents and often formal cat-colony members, were able to teach new comers about shelter life in an accepting way. Territoriality and dominance were minimized as a result. I found the list of research questions the couple developed as a result of their study to be very compelling and possibly fruitful avenues of investigation for the ethical treatment and understanding of animals. No longer do have to ask, "is a cat self aware" when any cat lover would emphatically say yes and be able to show why with many examples. Now we can get into the more interesting questions such as how conditions can nurture social cohesion versus aggression and how culture develops and changes among animals, how animals construct their world. No, we can't get inside a cat's head, but yes, we CAN us their actions as a group to better understand them as individuals and a species. 636.80832 ALGER

Review # 2 was written on 2017-02-19 00:00:00 Terrie Phillips I love cats. But sociology is a bore.