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SUMMARY (Bryn Skibo, edited Deborah Madsen):

The volume is dedicated “To those who would destroy cruelty this volume is inscribed” and the epigraph, from Genesis 1:29, reads: “And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which [sic] is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.”

“Canto One – Aunt Jane Moorland”: begins in an idyllic scene with an old woman knitting by the fire, surrounded by her sleeping dog, cat, nephew, and husband. The husband awakes and she asks whether he thinks she should be helping the poor and working classes more (he objects, saying what’s his is his, those less well off are being punished by God). Aunt Jane disagrees, arguing that their neighbor who beats his horse, likely beats his wife as well, and shouldn’t they intercede? Similarly, she argues that it is sinful not to help if they find a starving child or a neglected animal (37).

“Application”: Following the introductory story about Aunt Jane and her husband, Neff introduces the “application” of the Aunt’s argument by linking human cruelties, such as driving over-burdened animals, butchering animals without mercy or regard for their sensibility, as well as drinking and allowing the famine in Russia to continue unaided; she applauds those women who think like Aunt Jane and try to help, despite society’s ridicule.

“Canto Two – Ways of Cruelty”: surveys the ways in which humankind (specifically men) are cruel to animals: pinning still-living insects, using steel traps to catch animals, fishing with “wriggling worms” (who are left on the line all day, and carried home still suffocating), and trapping and tearing birds to death. She includes an important footnote on butchers and jury duty: “When the life of one of our fellows is at stake a butcher is not permitted to sit upon the jury, because killing animals hardeneth the heart” (53). She comments on women’s tendency in fashion to wear the coats and feathers provided by mothers: for example, the aigrettes of the female heron, which she only grows while sitting on eggs (and she will not leave the nest if threatened, making her an easy target); the coat of a mother seal, who displays her affection and pain in the same manner as humans (56-59); lambs, seals, and calves are often taken out of their mothers’ wombs and “skinned alive” (60) for the sake of fashion. In society, horses are prevented from lowering their necks by the check-rein, their tails are sawed off (“docking”), and they are left outside in all weathers, while the owners go to church or get drunk in a bar. Neff strongly suggests that women refuse to speak to men who ride a horse with a docked tail (74, 75, n25). Farmers dehorn their cattle to make them more docile, to which the speaker likens "a man without his arms” (76). She is especially critical of the cruelties of live animal experimentation and vivisectors are compared to “brutal savages”: “Say, does brutal savage / Weep at scenes of suffering? gore? / Barbarous instinct cultivated / Only grieves when such is o’er” (82). Neff provides very explicit details of notable vivisection experiments performed on seven horses and one dog (85). The remaining cruelties described are related to war (Neff recommends that Christian nations unite via religion); Neff also recommends the creation of industrial schools for truants, workhouses for vagrants and ex-prisoners, retirement homes for elder parents, Prohibition to escape the problems of alcohol, and for women to “discard their fashion deities” (91).

“Canto Three – The Tiger-Cat”: the tiger-cat is a metaphor for the growing cruelty in children that is unchecked by parents, leading from sport-hunting to murder. Neff implores parents to raise their children to care for and respect nonhuman beings, for the sake of the child as well as the animal and society. The speaker of the poem argues that God will make prosper the church which advocates for animal rights, suffrage, and Temperance (107).

“Canto Four – Conclusion”: in a footnote Neff recalls that “Jesus Christ belonged to the order Essenes and they ate no meat” (119). She proposes that if “the crown of glory” is waiting for mankind, it makes more sense that this mankind is wise and kind to all life. She makes reference to the hundreds of writers who “espoused the doctrine of immortality for so-called ‘dumb’ animals” (120). She links very closely Christian goodness and Heaven with treating animals with kindness, or at least mitigating the cruelty that they suffer. Thus, vivisection must be taken out of schools: “We are fully persuaded that vivisection in our public schools teaches four things, viz: Theft of the animals, prevarication, rudeness and cruelty” (127). She also suggests that a heavy fine should be imposed on any man who raises a mean dog, for the dog learns it from the owner (127). Neff argues that meat-eating creates belligerence, encourages the drinking of alcohol, and spreads disease; throughout the poem she refers to the importance of granting women the right to vote, which would make the country calmer, gentler, and more just.