Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I must speak a dissenting voice to all the glowing reviews of this book. Mowat is, no doubt, an excellent naturalist, and many of the adventures described in the book are very entertaining. However, I am very disturbed that, although the author is ready to defend HIS pets with his shotgun against other animals, he pretty much gave his own animals not just free rein but also encouragement to kill the pets of others. Mutt the dog is deliberately set on a woman's cats, and the "secret cemetery" of neighborhood cats filled by his pet owl is described with almost pride. Also disturbing to me is the author's attitude toward women. Any complaining woman is described as "spinsterish." The "Cat Lady" whose cats the author set his dog on to attack and kill was described as harboring "yearning hope" for a male intruder to come and presumably do things to her that I don't want to refer to in a review that children may read -- the implication is pretty strong, with a reference also to the Sabine women. I may get flamed for this review, but I feel that these are very poor attitudes to be subtly or unsubtly conveying to children. I find it very unfortunate because I endorse the author's work as a naturalist.