Authors Melanie Kaplan (Lab Dog: A Beagle and His Human Investigate the Surprising World of Animal Research) and E.B. Bartels (Good Grief: On Loving Pets, Here and Hereafter) will discuss their new books on important topics of interest to pet owners and animal lovers.

In Lab Dog, author Melanie Kaplan investigates the breeding and use of beagles for biomedical research, drug and product testing, and education. She takes readers on a journey, peeking behind laboratory doors and visiting with researchers, activists, ethicists, veterinarians, lawmakers, and innovators. Along the way, she finds thoughtful and caring humans on all sides of the debate, explores promising developments in nonanimal testing, and discovers puzzle pieces from her own beagle's past. Equal parts journalism and love story, Lab Dog offers a nuanced view on our relationship with a species that we both love and exploit, and a reason to hope for a better future for all. Kaplan is a longtime independent journalist whose travel and science writing has appeared in The Atlantic, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and National Parks magazine. 

In Good Grief, author E.B. Bartels has had a lot of pets—dogs, birds, fish, tortoises. As varied a bunch as they are, they’ve taught her one universal truth: to own a pet is to love a pet, and to own a pet is also—with rare exception—to lose that pet in time. But while we have codified traditions to mark the passing of our fellow humans, most cultures don’t have the same for pets. Bartels takes us from Massachusetts to Japan, from ancient Egypt to the modern era, in search of the good pet death. We meet veterinarians, archaeologists, ministers, and more, offering an idiosyncratic, inspiring array of rituals -- from the traditional (scattering ashes, commissioning a portrait), to the grand (funereal processions, mausoleums), to the unexpected (taxidermy, cloning). The central lesson: there is no best practice when it comes to mourning your pet, except to care for them in death as you did in life, and find the space to participate in their end as fully as you can. Bartels is a nonfiction writer, a teacher, an editor, and a former bookseller with an MFA from Columbia. Her essays and interviews have appeared in Salon, Slate, WBUR, Literary Hub, and Catapult, among others.

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RECORDING NOTE: This program will be recorded. All registrants will receive the recording via email within 48 hours of the program.

Our thanks to Tewksbury Public Library for sharing this program with us!