Animal Rights Research Articles

The Veg∗n Eating Motives Inventory Plus (VEMI+): A measure of health, environment, animal rights, disgust, social, pandemic and zoonotic diseases, and farm workers’ rights motives

Health, environmental concern, and animal rights are established motives for reduced meat consumption that can be measured by the Vegetarian Eating Motives Inventory (VEMI). This preregistered study aimed to expand the VEMI to include four less-studied motives: disgust, social, concern about zoonotic diseases and pandemics, and concern for workers' rights. We had three objectives: to combine the seven motives into a comprehensive model, to test if the VEMI+ scales function equivalently across omnivore and vegan groups, and to validate and differentiate these motives against external measures and meat reduction appeals. In samples of 731 omnivores and 731 vegans (total N = 1,462), we found support for the measurement invariance of a seven-factor structure across groups and created a scale with reliable measures for each dimension (ω total between 0.82 and 0.97). Vegans scored higher overall, with substantially higher scores on environmental concern, animal rights, disgust, and zoonotic disease concerns, while omnivores had slightly higher scores on health, social, and workers’ rights scales. Scale scores had expected correlations with criterion measures and differentially predicted support for motive-tailored appeals. This study enhances our understanding of dietary motivations and provides a valuable tool for future research.

Negotiating Empathy

This article proposes an ecocritical reading of two lithographs by Italian Brazilian artist Angelo Agostini to shed light on the tensions between the abolitionist movement and the animal rights movement in Brazilian visual culture. This question is never discussed in scholarship about nineteenth-century Brazil. Moreover, studies on the history of animal rights in the country focus on the republican period, when the first associations and laws for the protection of animals were created. This article, conversely, reconstructs the history of a seldom-remembered Society for the Protection of Animals, active between 1885 and 1890 in Rio de Janeiro, during the last years of the monarchy. Through visual documentation concerning this society and its negative local reception, I reflect on slavery’s connections to the animal rights debate during the last decades of the nineteenth century. I argue that two causes—abolitionism and animal welfare—were competing for visibility in this fundamentally unequal society. Artists like Agostini contributed to the polemic by using a combined aesthetic that questioned what they perceived as an incongruous situation: protecting animals before abolishing human slavery.

Ethical Considerations in Clinical Trials: Ethical Dilemmas in Patient Consent and Animal Testing

Clinical trials are indispensable to the advancement of medical science, providing a framework for evaluating the safety and efficacy of new treatments, interventions, and technologies. However, they present profound ethical challenges, particularly in relation to patient consent and the use of animals in preclinical testing. Informed consent is central to safeguarding patient autonomy, yet practical difficulties arise from issues such as patient comprehension, vulnerability, and cultural differences. Animal testing, while traditionally viewed as a necessary component of preclinical research, prompts serious ethical concerns regarding animal welfare and the broader moral implications of causing harm to animals for human benefit. This review examines these ethical dilemmas, tracing their historical evolution, analysing current regulatory frameworks, and evaluating potential alternatives to both patient consent challenges and animal testing. Through the examination of case studies like the Tuskegee Syphilis Study and the Henrietta Lacks case, as well as debates surrounding animal rights, this article emphasizes the need for continuous ethical vigilance and adaptive frameworks that can balance scientific progress with moral responsibility.

Urban Organic Nutrients Harmless Treatment System

To solve the common problem of pet droppings in urban parks and improve the conflict caused by raising pets in the community, a pet droppings collection and disposal device was designed to be environmentally friendly and aesthetically pleasing. This device allows for protecting animal rights while turning waste into useful organic fertilizer that can used for community and park fertilization. This is not only good for plant growth but also can reduce the use of chemical fertilizers and reduce environmental pollution.

The Place of Animals in Wollstonecraft's Early Educational Writings

Abstract Thomas Taylor's parody of Mary Wollstonecraft's support for rights of women and humans raises a question: does his satire unwittingly propose a defence of animal rights found in Wollstonecraft's arguments? While Wollstonecraft's later works do not mention animal rights, her early educational writings offer arguments on animal ethics. These works explore the value of animals from moral, theological, and consequentialist perspectives, emphasizing both their instrumental and inherent value. This article argues that Wollstonecraft's moral psychology and theology highlight a benevolent attitude towards animals, underscoring their value beyond their utility.

Lack of ecojustice and monkeys’ (macaques) exploitation in social media

ABSTRACT This article identifies and describes the connection between ecology, income, and commodification of animal life using the examples of macaques on social media. The exploitation of macaques for income has recently become an accessible social phenomenon through world-wide social media platforms: Facebook and YouTube, especially. This example of the commodification of animal life illustrates the interconnections among poverty, mental health, and animal rights, thus demonstrating the need for multiple layers of assessment and intervention for change to improve the lives of both vulnerable humans and monkeys.

Evidence of Human-designated Antiretroviral (ARV) Drug Residues in Broiler Chicken, Domestic Pigs, and Animal Feeds in Tanzania.

Recent reports have indicated the use of antiretroviral (ARV) drugs to boost animal production in neighboring Uganda, with further reports of use in several African countries. This cross-sectional study was conducted in nine districts in Tanzania, and involved screening for the presence of three first-line ARVs (lamivudine, nevirapine, and efavirenz) residues in the muscle and blood of domestic pigs and broiler chickens, and in sampled animal feed and water. Residues were determined using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The method involved calibration of the lower limit of quantitation (LLOQ) and limit of detection (LOD). ARVs were detected and quantified using the Multiple Reaction Monitoring (MRM) system. 131 (66.8%) of the 196 samples of muscle, blood, and animal feed were found to contain lamivudine residues, with the highest concentration detected in domestic pig blood and muscle (7.58mg/kg) and the lowest concentration (0.01 mg/kg) in broiler chicken feed. There was a significant relationship between the presence of lamivudine by sample type and sample origin (p=0.000). Nevirapine and efavirenz drugs were not detected in any of the collected samples. No ARV residues were detected in water samples (n=37). This study confirms the use of ARVs in animal production in Tanzania as evidenced by the presence of residues in animal feeds. We found lamivudine residues in domestic pigs and broiler chickens at concentrations higher than those recently reported in other East African studies. Farmers living with HIV may be using ARVs from their prescribed medications, which may lead to poor adherence and the emergence of drug resistance. Besides direct human and animal health issues, these residues in animal feeds and animal excreta can lead to environmental contamination leading to several negative impacts. We recommend a total ban on human-designated ARVs in animal production and advocate for comprehensive studies and monitoring systems across African countries to reveal potential societal and other reasons for their use and provide comprehensive solutions using One Health approaches.

‘Point and Kill’ vs Animal Rights: A Moral Examination

This study critically examines the ethical implications of the practice known as "point and kill," wherein nonhuman animals are selected and immediately killed for food, a practice that has become commonplace in many African cultures. While food is essential for the survival and growth of both human and nonhuman animals, the manner in which nonhuman animals are often treated as mere commodities raises significant ethical concerns. Despite extensive debates in contemporary animal ethics, the focus has predominantly been on issues such as biomedical research, animal confinement, and entertainment, with relatively little attention given to the ethical ramifications of using animals for food, particularly in the context of practices like "point and kill." This paper addresses the gap in the literature by interrogating the moral worth of nonhuman animals and questioning the justification for their wanton killing for human consumption. Employing critical and conceptual analysis, the study draws on the Igbo philosophy of ‘ugwu anu’ (animal integrity) to argue against speciesism and advocate for the moral consideration of nonhuman animals. It contends that nonhuman animals deserve care, respect, and fair treatment, and that the practice of "point and kill" reflects a speciesist attitude that undermines the inherent value of animal life. By bringing this issue to the forefront, the study contributes to the broader discourse on animal ethics and calls for a reevaluation of culturally ingrained practices that perpetuate animal suffering.

When Is it Right to Speak of Animal Rights?

Abstract This article examines the ways in which the language of legal rights is invoked by those seeking to improve the treatment of animals. Drawing from a range of analytical, realist, and critical legal and social theorists, it argues that certain argumentative techniques commonly employed to justify the extension of legal rights to animals may serve to strengthen and reproduce the very forms of exploitation they seek to challenge. The article begins by identifying and critiquing the binary characterisation of rights/welfare and property/personality in liberal animal law scholarship. It then employs the insights of Theodor Adorno and Walter Benjamin to expose and critique various appeals to an ‘exterior’ or ‘extra-legal’ domain which functions to stabilise the meaning of these doctrinal categories. In doing so, it explores the strategic viability of rights discourse in the animal advocacy movement with a view to highlighting the limitations of liberal constructions of animal rights.

The Animal-Human Relationship in War

Issues germane to animal history and military history intersect in the study of cavalry horses and their riders during the American Civil War. Animal historians should understand that warfare created a very different experience for horses than was true of their peacetime experience. Military historians should understand that horses were not just tools of war but sentient creatures with needs and emotions of their own. Weaponized equines exercised a degree of agency by exerting some control over their situations. The military system and battle severely stressed horses and men. Repetitive riding affected cavalrymen and horses in ways that resulted in serious health problems. Nevertheless, the war experience fostered bonds of affection between animals and humans in many cases while leading to callous abuse in many others. It also led to an enhanced appreciation for animals among cavalrymen who had bonded with their mounts, possibly promoting awareness of animal rights after the conflict.

The Environmental Perception and Vegetarian Motivation of People in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam

Abstract Studies have previously shown that there were many vegetarian movements in the world, using many different models to indicate vegetarian food choice behavior. Among the factors affecting the motivation to become a vegetarian, perception and attitude are considered important factors influencing the decision to switch from using foods of animal origin to plant-based ones. There are many measured aspects of perception ranging from health, religion, love of animals, or animal rights. Among these, environmental perception increasingly shows a clear influence on vegetarian motivation, especially for young people. This current study aims to find out whether factors relating to perception including environmental perception, influence people’s motivation to become vegetarian in Ho Chi Minh City. To achieve this goal, the research surveyed 360 people living in Ho Chi Minh City (divided into three groups (students, office workers, and manual workers) using a direct questionnaire. Research results show that among the four independent variables (perception, ability, opportunity, barriers), there are three variables (1) perception; (2) opportunity; and (3) barriers having a significant relationship with the vegetarian motivation of people in Ho Chi Minh City. From the findings, this study points out key highlights in people’s current vegetarian food choices in this area, including environmental perception.

How Should the 3 R's Be Revised and Why?

The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique established what many know today as the "3 R's"-refinement, reduction, and replacement-when it was published in 1959. Since their formulation, these principles have guided decision-making for many about nonhuman animal subjects' uses in laboratory-based research. Discussion about how to amend or replace the 3 R's is ongoing, driven mainly by philosophical ethics approaches to nonhuman animal rights and by scientific advancement. This article explores merits and drawbacks of possible updates to and interpretations of the 3 R's.

The Understanding of Animal Rights: Advancing a New Approach

The Understanding of Animal Rights: Advancing a New Approach

Pojęcie nadzoru materialnego nad dobrostanem zwierząt

In the context of growing global awareness regarding animal protection and requirements for their treatment, administrative oversight of animal welfare is gaining importance as a key element in ensuring the proper functioning of the state and its institutions in enforcing administrative law norms. The article focuses on defining and discussing the objectives of administrative oversight in the context of animal welfare, highlighting its multidimensional nature, which serves not only to protect animal rights but also to maintain overall welfare standards. Through a review of existing positions in doctrine and jurisprudence, the author aims to define administrative oversight of animal welfare in the material aspect, considering preventive and reactive actions and the main goal, which is to improve living conditions for animals. In light of this perspective, he argues that effectively conducted administrative oversight can contribute to faster and more efficient improvement of living conditions for animals than traditional criminal proceedings. The considerations have both dogmatic and practical significance, emphasizing the role that administrative oversight can play in improving animal welfare. Highlighting the effectiveness of administrative tools in protecting animal rights contributes to the discussion on the superiority of these tools over penal legal measures, offering new perspectives on achieving better living standards for animals.

Challenging Speciesism: A Review of Peter Singer (2023), Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed

Challenging Speciesism: A Review of Peter Singer (2023), Animal Liberation Now: The Definitive Classic Renewed

Thoughts and suggestions about ethical requirement in acupuncture animal experiments.

The animal experiment is an important form of acupuncture research, which is of great significance for revealing the regularities and mechanisms of acupuncture effects. The ethical principle of animal welfare is the important guarantee of animal rights and experimental scientificity in the process of research. Starting from the "3R principle" and "five welfare" rules, and the specific operation process of acupuncture animal experiments, we, in this paper, proposed the implementation methods of animal ethics in acupuncture experiments, including ethical execution before acupuncture experiments, and ethical requirements during the experimental stage (such as animal fixation method that meets the needling needs, selection of acupuncture apparatus, acupuncture manipulations, acupuncture stimulation intensity, and sampling of animal tissues). These proposed methods may provide some appropriate references for the guarantee of animal ethics in acupuncture research, and provide ideas for establishing a new paradigm of animal welfare ethics in acupuncture animal experiments, and finally promote the standardization and scientificity process of the implementation of animal welfare ethics in acupuncture animal experiments.

Ragnhild A. Sollund and Martine S.B. Lie (Eds.) (2024) Criminal Justice, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene. Bristol: Bristol University Press

Patricia Puente Guerrero reviews Criminal Justice, Wildlife Conservation and Animal Rights in the Anthropocene by Ragnhild A. Sollund and Martine S.B. Lie (Eds.).

Recent Increases in Vegetarianism may be Limited to Women: A 15-Year Study of Young Adults at an American University

The present study examined changes in the rates of vegetarianism among a sample of young American adults. Over 15 years, students at an American university (N = 12,704) described their dietary habits. Multilevel modeling analyses (participants nested within semesters) found that overall, the percentage of vegetarians increased over time, whereas the percentage of omnivores decreased over time; however, these changes occurred only for women. The dietary habits of men did not change over time. In a second study, in a sample of 363 adult vegetarians from the US, we found that women were more likely than men to become vegetarians due to concerns about the ethics of raising animals for food and eating them, suggesting that increased societal concern about animal rights may be responsible in part for the gender differences over time in vegetarianism. These results extend existing research on gender differences and suggest that if current trends continue, gender differences in vegetarianism may be more pronounced in the future.

Problem of Animal Rights in Selected Works by Dorota Probucka

This article presents the idea of animal rights as perceived by a Polish philosopher and ethicist, Dorota Probucka. It is divided into three sections that delve into the development and significance of animal rights from the perspectives of both proponents and critics of the idea. The first section provides an overview of the turning points in the history and evolution of animal rights, referring to the main thinkers who had the fundamental impact on their development. The second part defines the concept of animal rights and explains why extending fundamental rights to at least some non-human beings is important from both moral and legal perspectives. The third part compares the arguments of the proponents and opponents of the idea of granting basic rights to animals. The philosophers’ positions presented by Probucka prove that beings capable of suffering, regardless of their intellectual abilities, deserve moral consideration. This stance is supported by numerous arguments from various fields of science, demonstrating the degree of awareness and emotional complexity of animals. These arguments should contribute to the recognition of animal rights within a moral and legal context. The article also emphasizes the need for legal reforms, including the need to introduce formal legal structures, such as the appointment of the so-called Animal Rights Ombudsman, who could represent animals at an institutional level. Considering the growing bioethical and biocentric awareness, the article emphasizes the need to redefine our attitude towards animals. It also postulates the necessity of implementing legal reforms that will make animals full participants of the moral community, which is of key importance for the future of both people and animals on our planet.

Of sacred animals: the limits of animal rights activism and political veganism in India

ABSTRACT In India, the rise of right-wing politics in the form of what Sahana Udupa terms 'enterprise Hindutva' has triggered conflicting reactions to everyday incidents, highlighting the need for a new language to address unique problems faced by vegans and animal rights activists whose politics clash with Hindutva's anti-secular discourse. 'Sacred animals' as a conceptual framework provides an important entry point into the culturally specific socio-political tensions behind complexities that limit the possibilities of viable intersectional standpoints that engage animal rights activism and political veganism. From a postsecular perspective, the relevance and unique challenges of these movements in India are evaluated, noting that existing posthumanist theories fail to address these new issues adequately. Incidents of mob lynching and violence by the cow vigilantes are recontextualized as structural symptoms instead of sporadic occurrences. The backlash against rightist tendencies has given a critical validation to irrational disregard for political veganism and animal rights activism, based on their perceived alignment with right-wing ideology. Examining food politics around beef, mockery of vegetarianism, and everyday situations where 'veg' becomes a tag of inferior quality, this study challenges unfounded associations and assumptions that undermine the disruptive potential of animal rights activism.