Title: Animal Bioethics
Subtitle: Old Dilemmas and New Challenges
Subject Classification: Bioethics, Medicine and Medical Ethics, Society and Culture
BIC Classification: PSAD,JFFZ, JF
BISAC Classification: NAT039000, SCI101000, SOC000000
Binding: Hardback, Paperback, ebook, pp.193
Publication date: 25th July 2022
ISBN (Hardback): 978-1-80441-016-5
ISBN (Paperback): 978-1-80441-257-2
ISBN (ebook): 978-1-80441-017-2

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Description

Animal Bioethics is an important reference work for students of biomedicine and related fields, scientific researchers, and members of organizations for the protection of animal rights and welfare.

The philosophical background of monistic and dualistic concepts of the human-animal relationship is considered in detail. Experimental models in drug development and pain testing are analyzed, and the translational aspect of in vivo experiments discussed. One chapter is dedicated to neuroethics, taking into account the importance of animal experiments for examining brain function. Finally, an overview of modern legislation related to animal experiments is given, the ethical basis of the principles of Good Laboratory Practice is assessed, and the importance of animal bioethics for writing scientific projects is shown.

Biography

Editors: Zoran Todorović  is Professor of Pharmacology, Clinical Pharmacology and Toxicology in the School of Medicine, and Siniša Đurašević is a Professor in the Institute for Physiology and Biochemistry in the Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Belgrade, Republic of Serbia. 

Reviews 

"The new publication entitled "Animal Bioethics - Old Dilemmas and New Challenges" edited by Prof. Zoran Todorovic (School of Medicine, University of Belgrade, Serbia) and Prof. Sinisa Djurasevic (Faculty of Biology, University of Belgrade, Serbia) covers a wide range of topics related to animal experimentation. The authors explore the studied issues from different angles including ancient philosophical views as well as the current animal welfare science approach or relevant EU legal regulations. 

To ensure the high quality of each chapter, the editors invited experts in the areas of ethics, bioethics, physiology, neurology, toxicology, pharmacology, animal welfare and legislation to provide specific texts within their area of expertise. Overall, the book is a comprehensive source of information including ethical evaluations that should not be missed by those interested in animal experimentation, whether they are researchers or people arguing for the needs of laboratory animals."

- Prof. Ing. Eva Voslarova, Ph.D. Head of Animal Protection and Welfare Unit, Department of Animal Protection and Welfare and Veterinary Public Health, University of Veterinary Sciences Brno, Czech Republic

"The use of animals for scientific purposes was, and still is, a subject of debate to its true usefulness. Although there is a long list of scientific achievements which improved, one way or another, the quality of life not only for humans but also for animals, the question if we need to use animals for research purposes remains unanswered.   

Nowadays, when the interest of the community for the environment is even greater, the use of animals for research purposes is no longer a controversial issue but an issue that seeks clear answers. The first answer that can certainly be given is that this use has a clear ethical background that must be taken seriously under consideration. The use of animals in experiments is not a de facto human right. It is a need that should be based on the moral obligation of humans to respect non-human animals. It is a necessity that should only be realized when humans, animals or the environment benefit from the obtained results. It is an act that is covered by legal requirements, international scientific and ethical rules, ensuring the proper care and use of laboratory animals as well as the quality of the obtained experimental results.

Although thousands of pages have been written on this subject, there is always room for more. This is exactly what the book “Animal Bioethics: Old Dilemmas and New Challenges”, edited by Professors Zoran Todorovic and Sinisa Djurasevic aspires to achieve. Through an objective look, the authors try to approach the subject holistically, covering all scientific, legal and bioethical aspects. They do not want to influence the reader for or against the use of animals. What they want is to inform about the new scientific achievements, the new challenges and the up-to-date ethical concerns that regulate the use of animals. I do not know whether, after completing the study of the book, the reader will finally be able to answer the dilemma of using animals for research purposes or not. What I can assure you is that by completing the study of this book the reader will have more knowledge to ponder."

- Nikolaos Kostomitsopoulos, DVM, PhD. Centre of Experimental Surgery, Biomedical Research Foundation, Academy of Athens, Athens, GREECE

"Some ancient religions of the East have long warned that animal life and suffering are worthy of human attention and consideration. In the West, however, awareness came only in the first half of the 19th century, at about the same time in England and among German pietists. They were the desperate, lonely cries of the first societies that advocated for mercy. 

Two hundred years later, however, we are witnessing a very strong initiative to protect and expand animal rights: and although we are talking about hunting animals, using animals in circuses, eating animal meat, society's primary focus is on the use of animals in scientific experiments. The argument against their use is clear: if the stronger is allowed everything just because it is stronger, will we stop at animals or will we switch to minorities and people with disabilities? There is no progress in the logic of argumentation: the view of the majority is summed up in an aphorism signed under a photo of anti-vivisection protesters - "Animal experiments have allowed you to demonstrate twenty years longer…“ In practice, however, the shifts are very visible: since the famous '3R', launched at the beginning of the second half of the 20th century, to the massive refusal of ethics commissions to issue permits for experiments on non-human primates. 

And while public discourse - sometimes in national parliaments - is moving on to sexual intercourse with pets, plant rights, etc., tens of thousands of diligent scientists in laboratories all around the world remain confused and even frightened by modern trends in legislation and ethics. Addressing them, the book "Animal Bioethics: Old Dilemmas and New Challenges," edited by Zoran Todorovic and Sinisa Djurasevic, comes as more than a good guide to help navigate the forest of laws, directives, codes, and attitudes, setting clear limits but also allowing good practice to evolve without stopping the progress of science.

- Prof. Amir Muzur, MD, PhD. University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine, Department of Social Sciences and Medical Humanities, and Faculty of Health Studies, Department of Public Health, Rijeka, CROATIA