Last week, I finished reading Matthiew Ricard's book called "A Plea for the Animals." I had read other books of his before, including "Why Meditate?" which I enjoyed. When I came across "A Plea for the Animals," I immediately wanted to read it.

Ricard is a Buddhist monk, who makes a great case for treating animals with compassion. I've read many books over the years on this topic, but this one was a bit different. It is more scientifically-based, so many people may find it a bit dry to read, but it's so well researched and eye opening that I really think it's an important book.

Some parts of this book were difficult to read, simply because it made me want to cry reading about things that we humans do to animals around the world. While I didn't learn anything new regarding the meat industry, I did learn more about vivisection, bull fighting, and the wild/exotic animal trade, among other things. Ricard covers all angles, making a brilliant case for compassion for animals.

There were many quotes that I liked from this book, with my favorite being: "Most of us are fond of animals, but our compassion stops at the edge of our plate." That quote really says a lot and represents the major disconnect that we have in the world when it comes to people having compassion for animals. This book is well worth reading and I'm grateful that Ricard has written it. Hopefully his important message resonates with some people.