Animal ethics

Analysis and Comment (10)

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Is photographing dogs dressed in suspenders and stockings just another internet fad or a strange reflection on human sexuality? Sharp Daily

Dogs in suspenders. Yep, it’s a thing. And here’s why.

By Lauren Rosewarne, University of Melbourne

When I was little, maybe five or six, I got the idea to slip my spaniel’s feet into freezer bags and watch her slide around on the kitchen floor. Sure, this episode could have sparked in me a yen for…
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Non-human primates, like these macaques, are the animals with the closest resemblance to humans. Moyan Brenn

Scientific research on primates: what do we owe animals like us?

By Monika Merkes, La Trobe University and Rob Buttrose, University of Melbourne

The documentary Maximum Tolerated Dose (showing in Melbourne tonight and Sydney on February 12) offers a “look inside modern animal experimentation with the animals who lived through it and the people…
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What are our ethical responsibilities for racing greyhounds? Jo Anne McArthur

The unbearable lightness of being a greyhound

By Alexandra McEwan

Background Briefing’s program The Quick and the Dead exposed one of the key animal welfare issues facing the greyhound racing industry: the high rates of euthanasia of healthy dogs. During an interview…
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A rat used for cancer research in the United States. Janet Stephens

The elusive ethics of animal ethics committees

By Monika Merkes, La Trobe University and Rob Buttrose, University of Melbourne

More than six million animals are used in experiments in Australia each year. Many endure pain and distress, and most are killed after their use. The research community claims that our regulatory framework…
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Ban Live Exports: Melbourne Rally, Saturday, 6 October 2012. Gonzalo Villaneuva

Mainstream crusade – how the animal rights movement boomed

By Gonzalo Villanueva, University of Melbourne

More than a year has passed since Animals Australia and the RSPCA, in conjunction with ABC’s Four Corners revealed that Australian cattle were being routinely slaughtered in Indonesian abattoirs while…
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Healthy animals, perhaps, but is it ethical to confine large wild mammals to a tank for the purposes of profit and education? Greg Lilly

Not all fun and games: the missing ethics of animals in tourism

By Jim Macbeth, Murdoch University

Animals are a mainstay of global tourism development. They’re consumed in fishing and hunting, and used as part of “experiences” – horses in trail rides, marine mammals in theme parks, whale sharks for…
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That’s me: Scientists agree animals are conscious, but public attitudes still lag behind. flickmor/Flickr

About time: science and a declaration of animal consciousness

By Neil Levy, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health

Are animals conscious? Notoriously, the famous 17th century philosopher René Descartes thought they were not. He believed that possession of a soul was necessary for rational thought and for consciousness…
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Animals are not just an incidental first choice of research method. usda/Wikimedia Commons

Animal-based research is still relevant and necessary

By Swetha Srinivasa Murali

Drug development is a slow process involving years, even decades, of research and animal models have always been integral to this work. But progress in translating animal work into human benefits has been…
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Most drugs fail in clinical trials because of the reliance on animal testing to predict drug behaviour in people. Tatiana Bulyonkova

Animal research provides a flawed model, so why not stop?

By Monika Merkes, La Trobe University

Much of the research involving the development of new drugs still uses animals. Apart from moral questions about inflicting pain and death on animals for the purpose of medical research, there are an increasing…

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