To put animals and nature, the Earth's life community, first, and not just our own species, is a new way of thinking. It is a major evolutionary step for Homo sapiens. This book takes the reader beyond the polemics of animal rights and the imperatives of environmental protection into the deeper realms of animal consciousness, the 'empathosphere.' and the healing powers of nature where the call for humane planetary stewardship and enlightened self-interest converge. Written by a veterinarian with doctoral degrees in medicine and animal behavior, and with a lifetime of advocating animal and environmental protection, this book addresses the dictum of Socrates that "a life unexamined is a life unlived." Exploring values, perceptions and beliefs that are embedded historically in our culture from various religious, political, economic and social roots, Animals and Nature First shows why and how this new way of thinking and relating to other living beings is ultimately enlightened self-interest. It is an integral aspect of our recovery, economically, socially, politically and spiritually. Animal well-being and the health of the natural environment are inseparable from the health, well-being and the ultimate fate of humanity.