When you’re ill, do you reach for medication, a hot tea, or your dog? Author of ‘Wild: An Elemental Journey’, argues it should be the latter in ‘How Animals Heal Us’. Jay Griffiths studies a huge number of case studies to explore just how important animals are for our health – mentally, physically, and even spiritually. Whether it’s dogs detecting cancer or saving their owners from suicide, the sound of a cat’s purr and a bee’s buzz having a calming effect, or whales saving sailors from danger, animals are often covertly healing us. Griffiths also observes the lessons we can glean from animals to make society fairer, including the democratic processes shown by honeybees and red deer, and the mastering of ethics which characterises the wolf pack. ‘How Animals Heal Us’ is an elixir for our turbulent times, and a love letter to the creatures we share our planet with. IM

Penguin