Vet ethics: A quick whip around the racecourse

Melbourne’s Spring racing has again raised the question of the use of whips as performance aids in thoroughbreds. Jockey Zac Purton was fined $3000 over his “excessive” whipping of Caulfield Cup winner Admire Rakti. For the same ride, Purton collected $87,500 prize money. Let’s begin an ethical investigation of this issue by imagining the following […]

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Vet ethics: Animal protection in Singapore and Malaysia

Those who have travelled through neighbouring countries like Singapore and Malaysia may have paused more than once to consider the status of animal protection in those nations. Perhaps such a thought has arisen while wandering in a market place, or in view of grazing cattle, or when learning about the perilous state of wildlife in […]

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Vet Ethics: Feminism and the ethic of caring

Many people may not know that “feminist ethics” joined the modern ethical conversation about animals as far back as the late 1970s. Ethics inspired by feminism is in part a reaction against forms of moral thinking that have a character determined largely by men. A “masculine” ethical modus operandi stresses ideals of impartiality, abstractness, distance, […]

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