Food production and the environment: how much responsibility do we bear?

On August 8, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report called “Climate Change and Land”. The report, written by 100 authors from developed and developing countries, made news headlines. It addressed the extent of the contribution to greenhouse gas emissions of forest destruction, agricultural food production, and human diets. To date, most […]

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Vet Ethics: Sign of the times: thoughts on the death of Koko

The death of Koko the signing gorilla in June provides an opportunity to assess her place in the story of ape language experiments and in the animal protection movement. Prior to Koko, Washoe the chimpanzee was the first famous great ape to be experimentally taught a version of American Sign Language (ASL). Koko was the […]

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Vet Ethics: Meet the meat you can eat when you’re not eating meat

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 and cattle farmer Jean-Baptiste Moreau. […]

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Vet Ethics: Animal welfare all part of the plan

Victoria has released a new plan for animal welfare in the state. Animal Welfare Action Plan – Improving the Welfare of Animals in Victoria was developed after submissions from industry, veterinary bodies, welfare organizations, and other groups. The plan is designed to cover the welfare of companion animals, farm animals, animals in sport and science, […]

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