Ethical evolutions: navigating the future of animal behaviour and welfare research
Publication Type: |
Journal Article |
Year of Publication: |
2023 |
Authors: |
Matthew O. Parker, Alan G. McElligott |
Publication/Journal: |
Research Ethics |
Publisher: |
SAGE Publications Ltd |
Keywords: |
animal behavior, animal welfare, ethics, research |
ISBN: |
1747-0161 |
Abstract:
In June 2022, a group of Animal Behaviour and Welfare researchers from around the world organized a workshop (https://www.asab.org/conferences-events/2022/6/20/ethics-of-animal-behaviour-and-welfare-research-for-the-21st-century-and-beyond) designed to prompt discussion about the future of ethics in animal behaviour and welfare research. This workshop was motivated primarily by lively discussions (predominantly on social media) surrounding articles published in animal behaviour and veterinary journals, in which the authors had carried out research with animals, or humans interacting with animals, that had not been seen by an ethics committee. There were two commonly cited reasons (by authors), for this lack of ethics approval: (1) authors suggested that (as far as they were concerned) they ‘did not require’ ethics oversight for the projects on account of the work being ‘sub threshold’ (i.e. below the threshold of that which would require ethical oversight), or (in some cases); (2) authors suggested that because the work was with humans (e.g. pet owners) it did not require ethics oversight by an ethics committee. Regardless of the reasons, or the outcomes, of these individual cases, we (Alan McElligott, Elodie Briefer, Kate Flay, Xin Huo, Hannah Mumby, Tamara Tadich and Matt Parker) decided to organise an international workshop to discuss these issues, and what the future of ethical considerations in animal behaviour and welfare research may look like. The workshop prompted some excellent discussions and led to the idea for this Special Collection. In the Collection, we have tried to capture some of the current debates and discussions that are emerging in Animal Behaviour and Welfare research across several fields, including wild animal biology, companion animals, zoo animals and farm animals.