Regarding your questions, by definition, farm and research animals both are abused by humans, to serve their causes. By this definition and the abuse that comes out of it, research animals cannot be treated humanely. It's true that you might alleviate some of their suffering, and "improve their welfare", but they will never live the life they deserve.
Regarding your first question, i know that in Israel, where i come from, many methods and techniques were invented, refined and applied in the Volcani center (http://www.agri.gov.il/en/home/default.aspx), an institiute asociated strongly to the ministry of agriculture. As long as the two are tied together, they will never feel they are to be held morally for what they do. I imagine this link exists in other countries as well. Animal agriculture today is very far from ecology, sadly, and i hope that is what will "starve" its existence eventually. Hilit On Wed, Mar 27, 2013 at 2:23 PM, Ganter, Philip <[email protected]> wrote: > Ecologgers: > > Two items caught my attention today. One was a NPR interview program on the > recent internet buzz over the Chinese government's supposed eugenics program > (specifically, plans to breed for increased intelligence). The other was a > story read on the Atlantic website: > http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2013/03/how-state-ag-gag-laws-could-stop-animal-cruelty-whistleblowers/273962/ > > concerning legislative efforts to gag those who would inform the public about > currently common livestock practices. What tied the two together for me were > these two interlinked questions: > > How many of the problematic production techniques (mass rearing facilities, > hormone manipulation, beak trimming, etc.) referred to in the Atlantic > article were developed in university agronomy facilities and to what degree > are research agronomists ethically responsible for the effect that the > techniques they develop do not violate the animal welfare standards we must > apply to research animals? > > Is there a connection here? Do research animals deserve better welfare than > farm animals? If so, why so? The answer can't be that farm animals are > destined for the slaughterhouse in any case. Many research animals are > "sacrificed". > > I ask these questions in a sincere desire for both information and others > thoughts. I don't know who develops these techniques or how schools of > agriculture treat the ethical question and would love to hear from someone > who does. > > Why on ecolog? I am an ecologist and know that, before the rise of ecology > departments, the connection between agriculture and ecology was much closer > than today. Even though many ecologists are found at schools with no > agriculture, I still feel connected and perhaps other ecologists do as well. > The circle will be completed. It's already happening (think of the LME > movement in Fishery Science). > > In any case, I was disturbed by the thought that university research may be > behind common livestock practices that are so abhorrent to the public that > the agriculture industry seeks to deprive the public of its right to know > about them. Are we complicit? > > Phil Ganter > Dept. of Biological Sciences > Tennessee State University > (a 1890 Land Grant HBCU) -- Hilit Finkler PhD Zoology and urban ecology Tel Aviv University Israel
