It's been a tumultuous couple of weeks for the University of Wisconsin following an aggressive media campaign by PeTA suggesting photos of animal studies are "proof" of abuse, while the university responded point-by-point. Now that both sides have had their say, how does the university move forward? In a recent article, the student newspaper, The … Continue reading PeTA has Nothing to Offer
Category: Animal Rights News
Defending science and countering falsehood at the University of Wisconsin Madison
PeTA celebrated a victory the past week when they obtained photographs of cats that are part of medical research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The work involves a small number of cats in studies that provide better understanding of hearing and that are relevant to improving treatment for human deafness. An explanation of the purpose … Continue reading Defending science and countering falsehood at the University of Wisconsin Madison
Lori Gruen on the Ethical Justification of Animal Research Experiments
Prof. Lori Gruen gave an interesting talk this week at the University of Wisconsin at Madison on Animal Research and the Limits of Medicine. You can watch her presentation and discussion here. She appealed to those engaged in animal research to offer a more detailed explanation of how the cost and benefits of individual experiments … Continue reading Lori Gruen on the Ethical Justification of Animal Research Experiments
The moral relevance of human intelligence
Animal rights proponents often assert that “sentience” is the only morally relevant characteristic. In their view, we owe the same moral consideration to all sentient living beings, which must include the same basic rights to life and freedom. The animal rights philosopher asks -- Why does it matter if humans can compose a violin concerto … Continue reading The moral relevance of human intelligence
Gish Gallop
Gish Gallop is a technique, named after the creationist Duane Gish who employed it, whereby someone argues a cause by hurling as many different half-truths and no-truths into a very short space of time so that their opponent cannot hope to combat each point in real time. This leaves some points unanswered and allows the … Continue reading Gish Gallop
Consciousness and Moral Status
A group of scientists recently gathered at the Francis Crick Memorial Conference and issued the following declaration which as been widely covered in the media: The absence of a neocortex does not appear to preclude an organism from experiencing affective states. Convergent evidence indicates that non-human animals have the neuroanatomical, neurochemical, and neurophysiological substrates of … Continue reading Consciousness and Moral Status
Safeguarding medical progress means supporting animal transport
The following guest post is from Eric Raemdonck, who has a background in the aviation transport industry. Eric recently launched the Advancing Animal Research blog, whose purpose is to " establish bridges between the aviation world, the life sciences, health care, pharmaceutical, animal research industries, educational institutions and their affiliate or representative associations as well as Governmental organisations". Facing a … Continue reading Safeguarding medical progress means supporting animal transport
Animal rights activists protest Curiosity driven research
The last couple of days was nothing but jubilation at NASA/JPL after the landing of the rover Curiosity on Mars. President Obama congratulated scientists on the occasion by stating: The successful landing of Curiosity -- the most sophisticated roving laboratory ever to land on another planet -- marks an unprecedented feat of technology that will … Continue reading Animal rights activists protest Curiosity driven research
Speaking of Research 