Veterinary & Animal Ethics: Proceedings of the First International Conference on Veterinary and Animal Ethics

Christopher Wathes (Editor), Sandra Corr (Editor), Stephen May (Editor), Steven McCulloch (Editor), Martin Whiting (Editor)

Introduction

The first International Conference on Veterinary and Animal Ethics (ICVAE) held in September 2011 saw leading experts from across the world come together to discuss the most important issues of animal welfare in contemporary veterinary practice and research. This is the extended proceedings of that conference, enabling all those interested in this increasingly significant subject to benefit from the insights of those discussions.

The conference was divided into four sessions: Principles of veterinary and animal ethics; Justifying ends – the morality of animal use; Ethical analyses of animal use; and Cultural, political, legal and economic considerations. Each session contained four or five papers, and these are presented here in full, as well as the transcribed question and answer sessions at the end of each paper, and a short post-presentation reflection from each author. Also included is the debate on the motion ‘Is it better to have lived and lost than never to have lived at all?’ which records three prepared responses to the question as well as registrants’ comments from the floor.

Key features

• Contributions from the leading thinkers in veterinary and animal ethics today
• Includes stimulating, challenging, thought-provoking and sometimes controversial discussions
• Addresses key questions on the role of the veterinarian and the morality of animal use, as well as our impact on wildlife
• Provides guidance on the practical application of ethical principles and the problems encountered

Reviews

The editors have done a great job of providing the information as it was presented and their efforts will enable readers to develop their own opinions.

Doody’s, 2013

Key information