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Murdering Animals

Writings on Theriocide, Homicide and Nonspeciesist Criminology

  • Book
  • © 2018

Overview

Authors:
  1. Piers Beirne

    1. Department of Criminology, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME, USA

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  • Contributes to the enquiries of cultural criminology and the sociology of animal abuse
  • Proposes the term “theriocide” for the most accurate means of describing the murder of animals by humans
  • Appeals to scholars in animal studies, criminology, philosophy, sociology and law, as well as those with an interest in art history

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Green Criminology (PSGC)

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Table of contents (7 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xix
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  2. Introduction: Rights for Whom?

    • Piers Beirne
    Pages 1-11

  3. Theriocide and Homicide

    • Piers Beirne
    Pages 13-48

  4. Hunting Worlds Turned Upside Down? Paulus Potter’s Life of a Hunter

    • Piers Beirne, Janine Janssen
    Pages 49-69

  5. On the Geohistory of Justiciable Animals: Was Britain a Deviant Case?

    • Piers Beirne
    Pages 71-134

  6. Hogarth’s Patriotic Animals: Bulldogs, Beef, Britannia!

    • Piers Beirne
    Pages 135-164

  7. Gallous Stories or Dirty Deeds? Representing Parricide in J.M. Synge’s Playboy of the Western World

    • Piers Beirne, Ian O’Donnell
    Pages 165-195

  8. Is Theriocide Murder?

    • Piers Beirne
    Pages 197-214

  9. Back Matter

    Pages 215-225
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Keywords

About this book

Murdering Animals confronts the speciesism underlying the disparate social censures of homicide and “theriocide” (the killing of animals by humans), and as such, is a plea to take animal rights seriously. Its substantive topics include the criminal prosecution and execution of justiciable animals in early modern Europe; images of hunters put on trial by their prey in the upside-down world of the Dutch Golden Age; the artist William Hogarth’s patriotic depictions of animals in 18th Century London; and the playwright J.M. Synge’s representation of parricide in fin de siècle Ireland. Combining insights from intellectual history, the history of the fine and performing arts, and what is known about today’s invisibilised sites of animal killing, Murdering Animals inevitably asks: should theriocide be considered murder? With its strong multi- and interdisciplinary approach, this work of collaboration will appeal to scholars of social and species justice in animal studies, criminology, sociology and law.

Reviews

“The central argument that brings this book together is that animals have a right to live their lives free from humanity’s needs, wants or presumed supremacy over them. … This book is suitable for criminologists and for scholars who study legal issues and animals, as well as animal rights activists, humanities’ scholars and artists who have depicted injustices toward animals.” (Shannon T. Grugan, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice, clcjbooks.rutgers.edu, February, 2019)​

Authors and Affiliations

  • Department of Criminology, University of Southern Maine, Portland, ME, USA

    Piers Beirne

About the author

Piers Beirne is Professor of Sociology and Legal Studies at the University of Southern Maine, USA. The founder of nonspeciesist criminology, he is recognized as a leading scholar in green criminology and animal abuse studies. 

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