Christian Rodriguez Perez, Kirsten Persson, David M Shaw
{"title":"We are the Earthworms! Aliens Using 3R on Humans: A Qualitative Experimental Ethics Study with Animal Research Professionals.","authors":"Christian Rodriguez Perez, Kirsten Persson, David M Shaw","doi":"10.1007/s10806-026-09973-9","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10806-026-09973-9","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This study explores animal research professionals' attitudes toward the 3R principles (i.e., 3R: replacement, reduction, and refinement of the use of animals in research) using an experimental ethics approach. A thought experiment involving a superior extraterrestrial alien species conducting research on humans according to 3R was presented to 13 Swiss-based animal research professionals (i.e., researchers using animals, veterinarians, animal welfare officers, 3R coordinators, animal science trainers, and members of animal experimentation commissions) during qualitative semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked to reflect on whether the aliens' research is justified, as well as on the extent to which 3R is the right framework for it. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Participants revealed a spectrum of attitudes, ranging from ambivalent acceptance to outright rejection of \"3R for humans\". Key themes included concerns about legitimacy, consent, and power asymmetry, as well as anthropocentric and speciesist attitudes. These findings support previously identified concerns about the limitations of 3R and show that professionals also recognize these challenges when reflecting on the issue using a role-reversal thought experiment. This underscores the ongoing need to advance ethical frameworks in animal research, expanding beyond 3R to incorporate broader moral considerations. Ultimately, our findings suggest that empirical animal ethics, and in particular thought experiments of this kind, offers a promising route to fostering ethical reflection and reform.</p>","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":"39 1","pages":"9"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2026-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13672376/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149217317","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Kirsten Persson, Christian Rodriguez Perez, Edwin Louis-Maerten, Nico Müller, David Shaw
{"title":"\"Killing in the Name of 3R?\" The Ethics of Death in Animal Research.","authors":"Kirsten Persson, Christian Rodriguez Perez, Edwin Louis-Maerten, Nico Müller, David Shaw","doi":"10.1007/s10806-024-09936-y","DOIUrl":"10.1007/s10806-024-09936-y","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Changing relationships with nonhuman animals have led to important modifications in animal welfare legislations, including the protection of animal life. However, animal research regulations are largely based on welfarist assumptions, neglecting the idea that death can constitute a harm to animals. In this article, four different cases of killing animals in research contexts are identified and discussed against the background of philosophical, societal, and scientific-practical discourses: 1. Animals killed during experimentation, 2. Animals killed before research, 3. \"Surplus\" animals and 4. \"Leftover\" animals. The scientific community and, accordingly, animal research regulations such as the internationally acknowledged framework 3R (\"Replace\", \"Reduce\", \"Refine\") tend to aim at the reduction of \"surplus\" and, to some extent, \"leftover\" animals, whereas the first two classes are rather neglected. However, the perspective that animal death matters morally is supported by both societal moral intuitions and certain theoretical accounts in animal ethics. Therefore, we suggest the implementation of the 3Rs in regulations, so that they: 1. Make their underlying philosophical position transparent; 2. Are based on a weighing account of animal death; 3. Are applicable to procedures on living and dead animals; 4. Apply the \"reduction\" principle to procedures on dead animals; 5. Entail that methods using (parts of) dead animals need to be replaced by animal free methods, if possible; 6. Do not suggest replacing research on living animals by research on killed animals; 7. Include all kinds of animals, depending on the respective harm of death; 8. Are applied to the broader context of experimentation, including breeding and the fate of the animals after the experiment.</p>","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":"38 1","pages":"4"},"PeriodicalIF":1.7,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11611953/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142781584","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Societal Acceptability of Insect-Based Livestock Feed: A Qualitative Study from Europe","authors":"Ingrid Bunker, Jana Zscheischler","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09917-7","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09917-7","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Against the background of high demand for protein-rich feed in the EU and the environmental degradation associated with intensive livestock farming, insect-based feed is discussed as a potential sustainable alternative to conventional feed. However, the establishment of such an innovation depends not only upon technical and economic feasibility, but also on social factors impacting acceptability. The aim of this paper was to determine the acceptability of different social actor groups towards the use of insects as livestock feed, and to gain insights into value-based arguments leading to positive or negative attitudes and perceived benefits and risks. By means of qualitative content analysis, we analysed responses of an EU public consultation process linked to the authorization of insect protein in pig and poultry feed. We found a broad range of value-based arguments that influence the complex judgement process of acceptability that have been neglected in prior quantitative surveys. In particular, our results bring forward more critical voices, such as animal welfare concerns and scepticism that insect-based feed can contribute to a more sustainable livestock system. Based on these findings, we discuss whether insects as feed are a viable contribution to a sustainability-oriented transformation of the agri-food system. We conclude that under certain conditions (when raised on low-value organic side streams such as manure) insect-based livestock feed may contribute to incremental sustainability improvements. Overall, however, the innovation has limitations, not only in terms of regulatory conditions but especially with regard to ethical concerns.","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":"35 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-11-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"135774209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"A Kantian Approach to the Moral Considerability of Non-human Nature","authors":"Toby Svoboda","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09918-6","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09918-6","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":"26 5","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-10-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136105993","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Politically Branding India’s “First Fully Organic State”: Re-Signification of Traditional Practices and Markets in Organic Agriculture","authors":"Suchismita Das","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09915-9","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09915-9","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":"340 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2023-09-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"136235444","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Climate Injustice in a More-Than-Human World","authors":"Alfonso Donoso","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09914-w","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09914-w","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42334600","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Strategies for Increasing Participation of Diverse Consumers in a Community Seafood Program","authors":"Talia Young, G. Cumming, Ellie Kerns, Kristin Hunter-Thomson, Harmony Lu, Tamara Manik-Perlman, Cassandra Manotham, Tasha Palacio, Narry Veang, Wenxin Weng, Feini Yin, C. Cuite","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09912-y","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09912-y","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41901360","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"An assessment of 'Inclusive' Business Models: Vehicles for Development, or Neo-Colonial Practices?","authors":"E. Mangnus","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09911-z","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09911-z","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-20","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"47377916","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Connecting the Concepts of Frugality and Inclusion to Appraise Business Practices in Systems of Food Provisioning: A Kenyan Case Study","authors":"S. Vellema, G. Schouten, P. Knorringa","doi":"10.1007/s10806-023-09913-x","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1007/s10806-023-09913-x","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":50258,"journal":{"name":"Journal of Agricultural & Environmental Ethics","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":1.8,"publicationDate":"2023-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"44238501","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"哲学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}