You may have heard recently that France has legislated to prevent foods which are not animal-based from being labelled as meat, cheese, or milk. This new amendment to French law also prohibits using qualifiers with those words, such as vegetable sausage or soy cheese. The change was initiated by MP […]
In the previous Vet Ethics column, I raised the issue of whether veterinarians should be held legally liable to pay emotional damages in civil suits to bereaved clients for medical or surgical malpractice. This is a debate being had in Animal Law circles, particularly in the US. One reason for […]
A new book by an American author poses some troubling questions for veterinarians and our profession. The book is called Run, Spot, Run: The Ethics of Keeping Pets (University of Chicago Press). Its author is Jessica Pierce, a bioethicist and writer on animal topics. For example, in Wild Justice: The […]
The shooting of a 17-year-old male gorilla at the Cincinnati zoo after a child fell into his enclosure provoked a huge international reaction. The reaction was comparable to previous outpourings of anger and sadness following the killing of Cecil the lion by an American trophy hunter, and the killing of […]
In his book Animal Welfare: A Cool Eye Towards Eden, the well-known welfare scientist John Webster criticises the contribution of moral philosophy to the question of the treatment of animals and their welfare. Webster writes: “The moral philosophy approach to animal welfare – i.e. based upon our thoughts and values, […]
