Book review: ‘Cowpuppy’

Cover of the book, "Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship and a Scientist’s Journey into the Secret World of Cows"
A groundbreaking and compassionate examination of cows by a neuroscientist and sustainable farmer
By Sally Rosenthal

Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship and a Scientist’s Journey into the Secret World of Cows by Gregory Berns. Harper Horizon, 2024. Hardcover, 248.

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What do you really think of cows? Perhaps a more appropriate question would be: Have you ever even thought much about cows? For many people, the answer would probably be “no.”

That’s the position Emory University neuroscientist Gregory Berns was in before he and his wife decided to become sustainable farmers in rural Georgia. In Gregory’s groundbreaking book, Cowpuppy: An Unexpected Friendship and a Scientist’s Journey into the Secret World of Cows, he takes readers with him as he turns his scientific eye on his small herd of miniature zebu cows and, by doing so, finds new friends.

When the author and his wife took up sustainable farming, they were determined to grow their own fruits and vegetables and treat any animals on their small farm as sentient beings. Gregory decided that the three cows who came with the farm would graze in several of the pastures, making less work for him because he would not have to cut the grass. From this beginning with the bull, Ricky Bobby, and two female cows, Lucy and Ethel, the author — inquisitive by profession and nature — began to notice the ways the animals interacted among themselves and with him.

As his herd grew to 10, Gregory was well on the way to understanding the cognitive and emotional lives of cows in general and of his particular cows. Already well-versed in canine behavior and the author of two books on the subject, How Dogs Love Us and What It's Like to Be a Dog, Gregory studied his cows and became familiar with his herd’s ways of responding to their bovine mates and to him, the unusual creature in their midst.

I have to admit that I approached Cowpuppy with a little wariness, but just a few pages into this absolutely fascinating volume I was hooked. The author’s ability to relate scientific information in a highly readable manner and to combine that information with his own growth and understanding makes Cowpuppy one of the best animal books I have read in a very long time.

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Book Reviews