Karen Dawn, an animal lover, takes this opportunity to thank the monkey. Tonight, in partnership with Speak Out for Species, the author and animal rights activist will give a speech about her involvement in animal rights.

Her first book, “Thanking the Monkey: Rethinking the Way We Treat Animals,” was published this year and covers all things animal related: from pet ownership and leather to slaughterhouses and hunting season.

The book is deceptively chunky, but on opening, has extra large type surrounded by large photos, illustrations and cartoons.

“It’s designed so you can give it as a gift,” Dawn said. She wanted the full-color book to be a helpful reference rather than didactic or preachy lecture. So what exactly are Dawn’s views of animal rights?

“I want people to make their own choices,” Dawn said. “This is information many don’t know. If society then decides it’s horrendous, this is a democracy. They can ban it.”

But the bright pictures belie the facts presented in her book. Her research yields depressing results, highlighting the mistreatment of animals all over the world.

In the U.S., Dawn approaches the meat packing industry. The USDA is campaigning to pass laws to irradiate meat, treating it with gamma rays or x-rays. Rather than killing the E. Coli organism, this process changes the DNA so it cannot reproduce. Meat that had E. Coli would not be infected, but the fecal matter would not be removed.

“The public would still eat [feces]-irradiated [feces],” Dawn said in a quotation from her book.

How does Dawn feel about hunting rights?

“If an animal is hunted and killed with a clean shot, it is incomparably better off than an animal that is farm factory raised and killed in a slaughterhouse,” Dawn said.

“However, most hunters don’t kill every single animal with a clean shot. So unfortunately huge numbers of animals die slowly over many days or weeks in the forest.”

But Dawn said society has the right to vote for what is lawful, even if she herself prefers a “veggie burger” over store-bought or hunted meat.