Raising the Peaceable Kingdom is about an experiment conducted by the author. He was attempting to create a multi-species household to prove his theory that different species who are raised together will get along (or tolerate) each other. The animals chosen for his experiment include a rabbit, cat, dog, rats, and chickens. The broader application of his theory was that if the animals were successful in this experiment that humans could also live in harmony.

Raising the Peaceable Kingdom is a fairly easy read and could be interesting to those who have not had (or have) a multi-species household. While the experiment was geared towards raising several young animals together, there were other, older pets in the household that were introduced and had interactions with the animals of the experiment. The author gave a lot of thought to how he felt the animals should be housed and treated; I also appreciated that he preferred to take animals without homes rather than purchase bred animals.

I have had multi-species households throughout much of my life so I knew many of the conclusions he ended up with. What I did find interesting was reading how someone else fumbled their way around trying to do the right thing by the animals [while conducting his experiment]. There are all sorts of books on raising animals, but few that really prepare you for living in a mixed species household; I think most of us stumble around in similar ways. I was disappointed at the end because he really was simply conducting an experiment. Even though it was non-invasive and more than simply humane, I cannot agree with acquiring and raising animals but not genuinely loving and caring for them for the rest of their lives. There are plenty of us [mixed-species owners] that could have provided more than enough anecdotal evidence for a book. Otherwise I found the experiment and book entertaining.

If nothing else, read it for its novelty value. It’s not often you can read about a multi-species household where the focus is on the animals. The epilogue on social human values is also worth consideration.

Animal type: All

Raising the Peaceable Kingdom is available through Amazon.com

Title: Raising the Peaceable Kingdom – What Animals Can Teach Us About the Social Origins of Tolerance and Friendship
Author: Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Copyright: 2005
ISBN: 0345466136