As predicted, PETA’s ongoing campaign against scientific research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison continues, escalating this week with a striking advertisement on 100 Metro buses. The ad calls for an end to UW research aimed at better understanding how the brain processes sound. A central question is how sound arriving at both ears is combined … Continue reading Conversation Starter? PETA’s Bus Ads on University of Wisconsin Hearing Research
Author: Editor2
Animal welfare inspectors clear UW-Madison cat research of PETA allegations, important hearing research continues
A second federal agency charged with oversight of animal research has completed a thorough investigation of an animal rights group's complaints about sound localization research with cats at the University of Wisconsin. Summary of the result: “there was no direct noncompliance with the PHS Policy or serious deviation from the provisions of the Guide for … Continue reading Animal welfare inspectors clear UW-Madison cat research of PETA allegations, important hearing research continues
Time for a change?
Scientists and the scientific community receive some fairly standard advice when it comes to direct response to some animal rights groups’ stunts and campaigns. What is it? Typically some variant of: Ignore it. Don’t give them free publicity, the attention just helps them grow. Don’t acknowledge that their campaigns affect us, it will just reinforce … Continue reading Time for a change?
Fair partners in dialogue: Starting assumptions matter and they should be spelled out
Editors' note: Because the issue of starting assumptions remains in any dialogue about animal-based research, this post has been updated (December 2018) to include more recent anti-animal research organizations, and to provide up-to-date links. The importance and need for civil, open dialogue about the complex set of issues involved in use of animals is among … Continue reading Fair partners in dialogue: Starting assumptions matter and they should be spelled out
Today’s Science live chat: Scientists discuss ethics of studying chimpanzees in captivity
In anticipation of NIH announcing a closely-watched decision on the potential retirement of hundreds of federally-funded chimpanzees, Science is hosting a live chat this afternoon at 3 p.m. EDT. The chat features several well-known scientists who will discuss some key issues relevant to the future of chimpanzee research, including: “What, if any, research should continue … Continue reading Today’s Science live chat: Scientists discuss ethics of studying chimpanzees in captivity
A Closer Look at How Animal Research Progresses from Idea to Study
Unfortunately, the “how” and “why” of the research process is of much less interest, and receives far less attention, than the “what did they find?!” part of research. The latter is what you’ll see—if we’re lucky from the science outreach perspective— on television, in the science and popular media, Facebook, Twitter, and conversations world-wide. Meanwhile, … Continue reading A Closer Look at How Animal Research Progresses from Idea to Study
Raising the bar: What makes an effective public response in the face of animal rights campaigns?
For some scientists and institutions engaged in animal research, activist campaigns against them are a fact of life. These campaigns vary in tactics, scope, and longevity. At one end of the scale are the limited scope campaigns, perhaps when a paper reprints, more or less verbatim, an activist press release manufactured from misrepresenting publicly-available records. … Continue reading Raising the bar: What makes an effective public response in the face of animal rights campaigns?
Animal Rights Bill Under Consideration in the Senate
The Great Ape Bill, which would have significant impact on chimpanzee research in the US, is now under consideration in the US Senate. Over the past year, the legislation has been widely discussed in terms of its aims to: 1) End invasive research with chimpanzees. 2) Move towards retirement of the US chimpanzee research population … Continue reading Animal Rights Bill Under Consideration in the Senate
Speaking of Research 