Our Symphony with Animals

On Health, Empathy, and Our Shared Destinies

By: Aysha Akhtar MD, Carl Safina - foreword

Narrated by: Deepti Gupta

A leader in the fields of animal ethics and neurology, Dr. Aysha Akhtar examines the rich human-animal connection and how interspecies empathy enriches our well-being.

Deftly combining medicine, social history, and personal experience, Our Symphony with Animals is the first book by a physician to show how deeply the well-being of humans and animals are entwined.

Interwoven throughout is Dr. Akhtar's own story of being a young girl who was bullied in school and sexually abused by her uncle. Feeling abandoned by humanity, it was only when she met Sylvester, a dog who had also been abused, that she found strength for both of them.

Against the backdrop of her inspiring story, Dr. Akhtar asks, what do we gain when we recognize our kinship with animals? She travels around the country to tell the stories of a varied cast of characters - including a former mobster, an industrial chicken farmer, a Marine veteran - and comes face to face with a serial killer.

Through storytelling that is entertaining, profound, and touching, Dr. Akhtar reveals what happens when we both break and forge bonds with animals. She demonstrates how humans are neurologically designed to empathize with animals, and how violence against them goes against our nature. In equal measure, the love and friendship we give to other species biologically reverberates back to us.

Humanity's compassion for animals is the next step in our species' moral evolution and a vital component of our own health. Our Symphony with Animals is the definitive account for why our relationships with animals matter.

©2019 Aysha Akhtar (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

This is a must read!!!!!!! I was blown away. 👏👏👏👏

It has been many years since one book created such a huge paradigm shift. Perhaps it was because I had never considered animals in a serious thoughtful way before.

I am telling everyone I know to read /listen to this book. If more of us read it, it could change the world we & animals inhabit.

You will not regret the time listening to it. Repeat—this book will change your mind!!

I’ll always be thankful that it came my way via Terry gross’s interview.

Love all the personal stories

This book is full of personal stories on how animals impact people's lives and their wellbeing. Really well done!

Mental Health/trauma Triggers

As someone studying animal behavior, vegan, and animal activist this book is very educational and filled with so many insights on why I lead the life I do and why I advocate for animal equality. It exposes so many things and connections I was unaware of. However, being a former trauma victim and childhood trauma survivor the graphics of abuse, animal torture and murder are very hard to digest and listen to, leaving me wincing in between each sentence in multiple chapters. Because of this I'm only able to do small portions of the book at a time because it becomes too overwhelming and activating for my system. However this book holds so much value for the trajectory of my life and I will continue to stick with it, taking each chapter in a little at a time because I would like to hear the rest of what the author has to say. Aside from potential trauma triggers, I am enjoying the information but the one thing that I find irritating is the character impersonations. Her regular voice is fine when she's reading the book. I have no issue with that, but when she is recounting firsthand quotes from others, she goes into these different voice impersonations and I find that really annoying. I typically associate voice impersonations with children's books yet this is not a children's book so it kind of throws me off. I would prefer if she just read in one voice without doing the character impersonations.

Great Book!

A journey of growth and awareness beautifully told. Very informative with a message that makes the world a better place.

Very shocking but true

I am an animal rescuer for over thirty years and have seen many of the things that have been described in this book. It’s so heartbreaking to see what someone can do to animals and get away with it. I am so glad to hear about so many organizations that are out there to help give the animals their right to live with no abuse, starvation and forced breeding.
I am 76 years old and said when I was a teenager that if someone will hurt and abuse animals they will do it to humans with no remorse. I shed tears in many sections of this book and wished there was more I could do for them. I have taken the names of the organizations to contact to help them with their causes and definitely will try to do a lot more for the homeless and their pets. My pets have helped me through many hard times that humans can’t with just the companionship so I can understand how much they help the homeless. My pets ALWAYS come first!! They have a heart and soul too.

Touching

I enjoyed intense book. True facts. Could relate from molestation to animal abuse. Love it very much.

will change how you see animals

i was very moved by this book. the author took on the difficult task of exploring the world of farmed animals, sharing personal details about her past and stories of compassion, love and most of all respect for the animals we share our planet with.

Very informative. Thought provoking. Must listen.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. However, I broke down in tears on more than one occasion. At particular intervals, I couldn't wait to get home and pet and cherish even more my two furbabies. The mistreatment of animals this book educates us about left me with sadness, and vivid examples that I hope to soon forget. In its rawness, it beckons us as humans to better understand and care for animals thereby better caring for ourselves. The narrator was excellent. Highly recommend this book.

Enjoyed it all the way

This book took me through a roller coaster of emotions, from sadness to anger and smiles.

The reader made a good job at separating her voice from the other characters during the conversations, and I felt like it was the author who was reading it.

I also liked that online resources were provided for those who want to get involved with helping animals after reading the book.

thank you Dr. A

Brought tears to my eyes, but good ones. A well written compilation of Powerful stories about the strong bond we build with our animal friends (other stories contrast the loss of this valuable attachment and it’s consequences)
Thank you for sharing Dr. A.