PRESS RELEASE 27 MAY 2011

Are animal experiments justified? A book published today by Palgrave Macmillan sheds new light on one of the greatest controversies in animal ethics.

This comprehensive review of recent scientific evidence examines the contributions of animal experimentation to human healthcare, and the extent to which animals suffer as a result. It asks whether students really need to dissect or experiment on animals, and examines the effects on their attitudes towards them.

Bioethicist and veterinarian Andrew Knight presents more than a decade of ground- breaking scientific research, analysis and experience to provide evidence-based answers to a key question: is animal experimentation ethically justifiable?

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Animal ethicist Judith Benz-Schwarzburg and I have just published a lengthy academic article in the first edition of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics’ new Journal of Animal Ethics, effectively updating the case for animal rights. Based on recent information about the remarkable behavioural and cognitive characteristics of birds, dolphins and primates, we argue that stronger evidence exists than ever before for widening the circle of moral consideration beyond humans, and for the granting of basic rights akin to fundamental human rights to species possessing advanced cognitive and related characteristics.

In November 2010 I searched Copenhagen’s wild and storm-tossed harbour for the fearsome Jörmungandr, but instead encountered only elves - or were they? My misadventures are again chronicled in the UK’s Veterinary Practice magazine.