ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to acquaint the reader with the broad social science of nonhuman–human relations, beginning with the notion that nonhumans are equal to humans. It examines critical criminology as practice and as theory in terms of this unequal relationship between non-humans and humans. The chapter describes the use of nonhuman animals as crime victims, as substitutes for human crime victims, as criminals and as tools for crime, and as symbols of crime. It overviews theories used to explain animal exploitation in the context of crime, with a pointed focus on critical criminology as the best-fit explanation. Precursors, along with consequences, of crime being among the main questions in criminology, let us consider these questions in terms of animal exploitation. The critical interpretation of social phenomena essentially describes the unequal relationship of power between two or more entities with, thus, the typical outcome being that one entity is oppressed by the other.
