When this book was first published in 1997 there were upwards of 10,000,000 dogs and cats being killed annually in animal shelters and by animal control agencies across the country. Today that figure has dropped by at least 70%. Disposable Animals was a significant part of a growing movement to stop killing healthy animals and to face and change the sources of the problem. The book begins with analysis of how it came to be that "disposable" animals existed and how animal welfarists betrayed their obligation to true animal welfare and defended killing (erroneously called "euthanasia") the surplus millions. The discussion then moves into the plight of other animals in American society and how using them for human purposes, without thinking of their own purposes in living, has led to massive cruelty and contributed to alienation of humans from the natural world. A new ethic, as described here, should characterize new relations between us and the life community.