Although this volume is not encyclopedic, as in covering all facets of animal welfare, it does have good descriptions of the animal rights movement, especially its impact on some types of medical research. Examples include animal boredom, genetic engineering, Humane Slaughter Act, hunting, and rodeos. Some longer discussions, such as animal cognition, are divided into several subsections with different contributors. For the most part, the contributors have been careful to present differing viewpoints.
Most entries have a short selective bibliography.
There is a chronology at the beginning of the volume and a list of resources following the A-Z entries. These resources include an annotated directory of organizations involved in animal welfare and humane education, as well as print source material. The volume concludes with an index and a list of contributors. A number of these contributors are professors of philosophy, and many of the entries are steeped in philosophical argument and explanation that, while important to understanding one or more views of the animal rights movement, also put up barriers to popular consideration. In addition to discussions of animal shelters, mice as laboratory animals, vegetarianism, and zoos, there are entries for deep ethology, painism, sentientism, and virtue ethics.