The beliefs I was raised with - to respect animals and to be aware of nature to understand that we share this planet with other creatures - have had a huge impact on me.

I'm always pushing for human responsibility. Given that chimpanzees and many other animals are sentient and sapient then we should treat them with respect.

Steve Irwin did wonderful conservation work but I was uncomfortable about some of his stunts. Even if animals aren't aware that you are not treating them with respect the viewers are.

Man is the religious animal. He is the only one that's got true religion several of them.

So basically my view is I don't want to support the exploitation of animals and within reason I will do what I can to avoid it but it's not like it's a religion for me. It's not like I consider I'm polluted if somehow some bit of milk or cheese or something passes my lips.

We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt if they were able to formulate a religion they would depict the Devil in human form.

I have a great relationship with animals and with children. I get to their level. I try to see the way a child looks at the world it's hugely different.

First and foremost I am a commercial writer and I hope to entertain people. But having said that I'm in love with the relationship between humans and dogs and the more I learned about what our military working dogs are doing I wanted to at least share with people what an important role these animals have in all our lives.

Just about every children's book in my local bookstore has an animal for its hero. But then only a few feet away in the cookbook section just about every cookbook includes recipes for cooking animals. Is there a more illuminating illustration of our paradoxical relationship with the nonhuman world?

The behavior of men to the lower animals and their behavior to each other bear a constant relationship.