Dominion: The Power of Man,
the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy

By Matthew Scully
St. Martin’s Press, 2002

Review by Paul Shapiro

Perhaps no book on animal protection has ever received as much publicity upon publication as Matthew Scully’s Dominion. Indeed, favorable reviews from The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Public Radio, and several other major news sources have made it more likely to be read than almost any other similar book.

One of the things that makes this book dissimilar though, is not that a new author is taking up the cause of compassion for animals, but rather just who that author is. Scully is a Christian conservative, GOP insider, and former senior speechwriter for the current President Bush. While not a likely background for the vegetarian animal advocate he is, Scully proves to be an eloquent and outspoken voice for animal protection.

Whether it be exposing the Safari Club and its sadistically cruel and cowardly slaughter of wildlife, the Japanese and Norwegian insistence on commercial whaling, or the routine abuse of animals on factory farms which gives “merciless” a new definition, Scully possesses not only a potent argument, but a wry sense of humor as well.

Attempting to reach ears and hearts which might be deaf to the modern animal advocacy movementâmainly conservatives and much of the churchgoing publicâScully goes to great lengths to distance himself from Peter Singer, and concedes he believes humans are superior to other animals and that God has given us dominion over them. His argument rests on the a priori assumption most of us already accept: that those who are vulnerable, innocent, and powerless should be granted mercy. He uses this ethic to argue in favor of vegetarianism and a wide variety of other major changes, including all sorts of prohibitions in the hunting, farming, and testing worlds.

In a way, Scully’s argument may be more palatable to most Americans, and easier to understand, than many previously advanced pro-animal arguments. Rather than trying to persuade his readers that animals’ interests in avoiding suffering should be counted equally to similar human interests, or that animals should be granted rights, he picks a much lower standard which will end up with a very similar result. Basically, Scully argues that animal cruelty, especially when unnecessary, is immoral. Sounds easy and non-threatening enough, right? Well, he then goes on to demonstrate that nearly every use and abuse to which we currently subject animals is unnecessary. From meat-eating and fur-wearing to sport hunting and most animal testing, putting this simple principle into practice would actually require massive societal changes.

In a powerful passage alluding to the mortal sins, Scully writes:

When a man’s love of finery clouds his moral judgment, that is vanity. When he lets a demanding palate make his moral choices, that is gluttony. When he ascribes the divine will to his own whims, that is pride. And when he gets angry at being reminded of animal suffering that his own daily choices might help avoid, that is moral cowardice.

Scully is a great messenger for the audience he’s attempting to reach, and his book clearly has the potential to do an enormous amount of good for animals, whether read by those inside the beltway or beyond.

Even though his argument is simple and powerful, the book is excessively long, as Scully dedicates nearly an entire chapter to articulating and refuting the arguments of those who deny animals are capable of suffering, or any emotional states at all, for that matter. The fact that this view is so implausible and held by nearly no one is reason enough to warrant less space for it. As well, Scully unnecessarily spends ample time refuting arguments of Peter Singer that have little to do with animals, such as abortion, euthanasia, and infanticide. Given that Scully distances himself from Singer early on, and that almost none of his target audience would be inclined to agree with Singer on these matters anyway, the book would not suffer without this section as well.

The last concern I would bring up about the book is Scully’s belief that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s decision to buy only meat that didn’t come from factory-farmed animals is a “decent compromise.” Even if non-corporate farming is less inhumane, this passage comes directly after Scully argues that we have no need for animal flesh and that much evidence exists that it’s actually bad for us. Scully makes a powerful case for vegetarianism throughout the book: mainly that killing animals always causes some harm and that we should avoid harming animals when possible. Since we don’t need to eat meat, and the only reason we eat it is for relatively trivial taste sensations, we should be vegetarian.

Admittedly, in a time when very few people even think about the suffering they cause through their diets, it may be relatively morally admirable to seek out less inhumane animal products. As well, it is heartening to see someone as influential as Kennedy even acknowledging that there’s a problem with modern farming. Anyone who takes the time to cause less cruelty is certainly moving in the right direction. Still, we can admire the steps someone has taken without accepting them as an acceptable end.

Regardless of these concerns, which are probably minor in the grand scheme of things, Scully is in a position to bring more benefit for animals than perhaps any other author. By reaching out to an audience largely ignored by or deaf to the rest of the animal movement, and by virtue of his place as an influential conservative thinker, Scully has become an enormously important voice for the voiceless.

Were his recommendations in the final chapter to be implemented, it’s hard to comprehend how much suffering would be alleviated. We can only hope that Dominion will help compassion for animals become even more of a non-partisan issue, as opposed to the non-issue it has been for far too many in power, both on the left and the right.

Matthew Scully served as special assistant and senior speech-writer to President George W. Bush, and has written for Vice Presidents Dan Quayle and Dick Cheney. He is also a former National Review literary editor.

Paul Shapiro is the campaigns director for COK.

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