In the Company of Animals is the personal story of one man's relationship with animals across the eighty years of his life, a meditation on humanity's horrible history of animal abuse, and an urgent plea for mercy and justice for animals in today's world. Poet Ken Lauter went vegetarian in 1976, and still struggles to go vegan - but is convinced that non-human animals must be fully liberated if our own species is to have a sustainable future or a sane social/spiritual life. Lauter doesn't "preach" that message, but embodies it in a wide variety of work (100+ poems and 12 prose pieces). For both animal-lovers and animal-eaters, the voyage through these pages will prove memorable - and perhaps life-changing.