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  4. An ethical dilemma: where does animal…

 

What do animals need? What are our responsibilities and our commitments to caring for animals? What are our ethical responsibilities towards different types of animals or animals in different circumstances?

The RSPCA Australia annual Scientific Seminar will tomorrow challenge current thinking and explore the sometimes conflicting and somewhat controversial topic of animal welfare and ethics.

Speakers at the Seminar will explore the ethical perspectives of our use of and behaviour towards animals in a range of topical areas including the human-animal relationship; recreational, conservation and traditional hunting; companion animal breeding; and the concern for animal life, to name a few.

The keynote speaker for this year’s Scientific Seminar is Peter Sandøe, Professor of Bioethics at the University of Copenhagen. His talk – The interaction of ethical questions and farm animal welfare science – explores the distinction between the science-based study of animal welfare and the ethical investigation of what is right and what is wrong in our dealings with animals.

Other presentations will include:

 

  • Setting the scene - Chair, Simon Longstaff, Executive Director, St James Ethics Centre
  • For the love of lab rats: kinship, human-animal relations and good scientific research - Simone Dennis, Lecturer in Anthropology, Australian National University
  • Recreational, conservation and traditional hunting: the ethical dimensions - Dominique Thiriet, Lecturer – Law, James Cook University
  • Teaching animal welfare and ethics: from principles to practice - Teresa Collins, Lecturer in animal welfare and ethics, Murdoch University
  • Animal welfare research: the funding dilemma - Clive Phillips, Professor, School of Veterinary Science, University of Queensland
  • Welfare and ethics in companion animal breeding - Richard Malik, Centre for Veterinary Education, University of Sydney, Adjunct Professor, Charles Sturt University
  • Keynote: The interaction of ethical questions and farm animal welfare science - Peter Sandøe, Professor of Bioethics, University of Copenhagen, Denmark
  • Pain, death and concern for animal life - John Hadley, Research Lecturer, Department of Religion, Anthropology and Philosophy, University of Western Sydney
While Peter Sandøe is in Australia he will be presenting a series of free public lectures hosted by the RSPCA in collaboration with the University of Queensland, Melbourne University, Animal Welfare Science Centre and Murdoch University at which he will further elaborate on the topic of animal welfare and ethics.
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