Temple Grandin

feedlot1-copy

Temple Grandin, renowned animal behaviorist and designer of livestock processing facilities, will be holding a book signing in Corpus Christi, TX on Dec. 2nd, 2009. More imporatantly, we can’t believe that Dr. Temple Grandin hasn’t been featured on Animal Architecture yet. For those of you who may not be familiar with her work:

Dr. Grandin is a designer of livestock handling facilities and a Professor of Animal Science at Colorado State University. Facilities she has designed are located in the United States, Canada, Europe, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries. In North America, almost half of the cattle are handled in a center track restrainer system that she designed for meat plants. Curved chute and race systems she has designed for cattle are used worldwide and her writings on the flight zone and other principles of grazing animal behavior have helped many people to reduce stress on their animals during handling.

She has also developed an objective scoring system for assessing handling of cattle and pigs at meat plants. This scoring system is being used by many large corporations to improve animal welfare. Other areas of research are: cattle temperament, environmental enrichment for pigs, reducing dark cutters and bruises, bull fertility, training procedures, and effective stunning methods for cattle and pigs at meat plants.

She obtained her B.A. at Franklin Pierce College and her M.S. in Animal Science at Arizona State University. Dr. Grandin received her Ph.D in Animal Science from the University of Illinois in 1989. Today she teaches courses on livestock behaviour and facility design at Colorado State University and consults with the livestock industry on facility design, livestock handling, and animal welfare. She has appeared on television shows such as 20/20, 48 Hours, CNN Larry King Live, PrimeTime Live, the Today Show, and many shows in other countries. She has been featured in People Magazine, the New York Times, Forbes, U.S. News and World Report, Time Magazine, the New York Times book review, and Discover magazine. Interviews with Dr. Grandin have been broadcast on National Public Radio. She has also authored over 400 articles in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals on animal handling, welfare, and facility design. She is the author of “Thinking in Pictures”, “Livestock Handling and Transport,” “Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals,” and “Humane Livestock Handling.” Her books “Animals in Translation” and “Animals Make Us Human” were both on the New York Times best seller list. “Animals Make Us Human” was also on the Canadian best seller list.

Temple is a pioneer in the world of built structures for the direct control and comfort of animals and she does it from a standpoint of care and empathy. Her position of understanding and dignity is so powerful (we should mention at this point that Temple is living with Autism and has a unique and personal perspective on animal behavior and psychology) that it’s hard to discount. After-all she isn’t interested in saving livestock animals, she is interested in making the conditions of their lives and deaths more dignified and peaceful. She’s a unique and extremely interesting individual. If you’re in the southwest region we highly recommend checking it out. Other dates around the country are posted below along with a list of her various web-sites.

Book Event Dec 2nd, Corpus Christi, Tx:

templeanimal300

Animals Make Us Human:
Creating the Best Life for Animals
Grandin, Dr. Temple and Johnson, Catherine

The best-selling animal advocate Temple Grandin offers the most exciting exploration of how animals feel since The Hidden Life of Dogs. In her groundbreaking and best-selling book Animals in Translation, Temple Grandin drew on her own experience with autism as well as her distinguished career as an animal scientist to deliver extraordinary insights into how animals think, act, and feel. Now she builds on those insights to show us how to give our animals the best and happiest life—on their terms, not ours. It’s usually easy to pinpoint the cause of physical pain in animals, but to know what is causing them emotional distress is much harder. Drawing on the latest research and her own work, Grandin identifies the core emotional needs of animals. Then she explains how to fulfill them for dogs and cats, horses, farm animals, and zoo animals. Whether it’s how to make the healthiest environment for the dog you must leave alone most of the day, how to keep pigs from being bored, or how to know if the lion pacing in the zoo is miserable or just exercising, Grandin teaches us to challenge our assumptions about animal contentment and honor our bond with our fellow creatures. Animals Make Us Human is the culmination of almost thirty years of research, experimentation, and experience. This is essential reading for anyone who’s ever owned, cared for, or simply cared about an animal.
Websites:
http://www.grandin.com/

http://www.templegrandin.com/templehome.html

Remaining 2009 Book events.

November 20, 2009
Future Horizons Autism / Aspergers SuperConference – Kansas City
Kansas City Missouri
To register please contact 1-800-489-0727

December 2, 2009
Book Signing – Animals Make Us Human
Barnes and Noble
5129 Blanche D. Moore Drive
Corpus Christi, TX 7pm

December 11, 2009
Future Horizons Autism / Asperger’s SuperConference – Sacramento 2009
Sacramento, CA
To register please contact 1-800-489-0727

1 comment
  1. Dear Dr. Grandin,
    I am presently in the process of designing a small meat plant to butcher approximately 25cattle & 20 hogs and/or lambs per week. Do you have any handiling systems for small plants. Please send particulars.

Comments are closed.

You May Also Like
Read More

Urban Aeries / PURCH;

URBAN AERIES / PURCH (Positioned Urban Roosts for Civic Habitation) – is a combined exercise in engaging other alternate-architects (specifically birds here) in the production of co-species habitations.

Batumi Aquarium

Inspired by the characteristic pebbles of the Batumi beach, continually shaped by the wash of the waves through millennia, the building stands out as an iconic rock formation visible from both land and sea.
Read More

Nest Works

Nestworks – ‘assisted readymades’ for urban birds. 51% Studios 2011 Animal Architecture Award Honorable Mention.   2010 saw…

[On Farming] Release Event

Bracket is a new book series that highlights emerging critical issues at the juncture of architecture,environment, and digital culture. Conceived as an almanac, the series looks at emerging themesthat are shaping the built environment in radically signifi cant, yet often unexpected ways.
Read More

International Architecture Festival

In April of this year Animal Architecture was invited to participate in the annual International Architecture Festival at the Westchester Academy for International Studies in Houston.