Approaching the issue of animal rights from a secure philosophical grounding, the author presents practical, unsentimental arguments on animal rights and human duties towards them. With a layperson's introduction to philosophical concepts, the text presents a radical response to the defenders of animal rights and a challenge to those who think that because they are kind to pets, they are good for animals. Addressed are such paradoxes as why animal rights groups are so keen to protect the rights of badgers and foxes but not of mice and rats and why they find the raising of animals for fur more heinous than raising them for their meat. Animal welfare scientists, philosophers, and ethicists will find the humor, morality, and rationality of this brilliantly argued work, insightful and challenging.