Understanding Nazi Animal Protection and the Holocaust

Abstract

It is well known that the Nazis treated human beings with extreme cruelty but it less widely recognized that the Nazis also took some pains to develop and pass extensive animal protection laws. How could the Nazis have professed such concern for animals while treating humans so badly? It would be easy to dismiss Nazi proclamations on animals as mere hypocrisy but there may be other explanations for the contradiction. For example, anecdotal reports and psychological evaluations of many prominent Nazis suggest they felt affection for animals but dislike of humans. Second, animal protection measures, whether sincere or not, may have been a legal veil to attack Jews and others considered undesirable. Third, the Nazis blurred moral distinctions between animals and people and tended to treat members of even the Master Race as animals at times. This article argues that at the core of the Nazi treatment of humans and animals was a reconstitution of society's boundaries and margins. All human cultures seek to protect what is perceived to be pure from that which is seen to be dangerous and polluting and most societies establish fairly clear boundaries between people and animals. In Nazi Germany, however, human identity was not contaminated by including certain animal traits but certain peoples were considered to be a very real danger to Aryan purity.     

The role of ethics in experimental marine biology and ecology

Although most countries have ethical guidelines for research involving human subjects and other sentient animals, the ethical issues associated with field research have received little attention. Most experimental marine biologists and ecologists operate without ethical guidelines or scrutiny, despite intermittent community concern about their activities. We offer suggestions on how marine biologists and ecologists can protect the future of research involving the field collection and experimental manipulation of organisms by developing mechanisms to address community concerns that such research is ethically responsible. We urge experimental marine biologists and ecologists to take pre-emptive initiatives by encouraging: (1) institutional animal ethics committees to broaden their terms of reference to include environmental ethics; (2) scientific societies to develop codes of ethics to guide the environmental research conducted by their members; (3) editorial boards of journals to require the research they publish to conform to an appropriate code of ethics, and (4) management agencies that issue permits for field research to establish an ethics committee to advise them on the ethical issues raised by specific research proposals. We conclude that the resultant administrative burden on scientists would be low but that the penalties of operating without such protection can be high.     

Perception of a Common Fate in Human—Animal Relations and its Relevance to our Concern for Animals

ABSTRACT

Considering violence against animals and violence against people as one and the same problem presupposes a comprehensive concept of violence, a concept of suffering uniting humans and animals, and a specific relationship to nature and life. The thesis of this paper is that the greater concern for animals that has developed in western societies, particularly in the last few decades, is fundamentally related to the perception of a common fate that humans and animals share, especially in the face of the threat of an ecological or nuclear catastrophe and the awareness of the competitiveness in human relationships that now prevails the world over. Two literary works and a social psychology study are referred to in order to illustrate this thesis. The perception of a common fate is considered an integral part of identification with others, either humans or animals, of empathy with them, and of an attitude of respect toward nature in general.     

Animals in flow – towards the scientific study of intrinsic reward in animals

The concept of flow, a state of complete absorption in an intrinsically rewarding activity, has played a pivotal role in advancing notions of human well-being beyond minimising suffering towards promoting flourishing and thriving. While flow has played a fundamental role in human positive psychology, it has not yet been explored in non-human animals, leaving an enormous void in our understanding of intrinsic motivation in animals. As ethology and related fields keep progressing in uncovering complex cognitive and affective capacities of non-human animals, we propose the time is ripe to translate the concept of flow to animals. We start by embedding flow in the topic of intrinsic motivation and describe its impact on positive human psychology and potentially positive animal welfare. We then disambiguate flow from related concepts discussed in the animal literature. Next, we derive experimental approaches in animals from the canonical characteristics of flow in humans and provide guidelines for both inducing and assessing flow by focusing on two characteristics that do not necessarily depend on self-report, namely resistance to distraction and time distortion. Not all aspects of the human flow experience are (yet) translatable, but those that are may improve quality of life in captive non-human animals.     

Testing the Roles of Intergroup Anxiety and Inclusion of Animals in the Self as Mechanisms that Underpin the “Pets as Ambassadors” Effect

It has been suggested that pets provide the opportunity for humans to develop more positive attitudes and relationships toward a wider range of animal types—including toward non-pet animals—this is called the “pets as ambassadors” hypothesis. In this study, we build both on research conducted on human–animal relations and in social psychology to investigate the hypothesis, as well as two likely mechanisms involved in this effect: inter- group anxiety (toward animals) and inclusion of animals in the self. An online questionnaire was completed by 238 Canadian participants (M = 28.6 years old, SD = 8.53; 102 women). Using structural equation modeling (SEM), we tested a model whereby contact with pets predicted greater inclusion of ani- mals in the self and lower intergroup anxiety toward animals in general. In turn, these two psychological processes predicted more positive attitudes toward a broad range of animal types (e.g., wild/pest animals, animals used for human purposes) and animals in general. Finally, these positive attitudes toward animals predicted more pro-social behavioral intentions toward animals. The hypothesized model showed a good fit. Bootstrapping analyses further con- firmed the mediating roles of inclusion of animals in the self and intergroup anxiety toward animals in the associations between contact with pets and attitudes toward animals in general. The hypothesized model also presented a more satisfactory fit compared with an alternative model. Altogether, these findings underline the importance of contact with pets in fostering more positive human–animal relations and promoting animal welfare. These results also support the applicability of social psychological theories and principles in the realm of human–animal relations.     

Trapping and marking terrestrial mammals for research: integrating ethics, performance criteria, techniques, and common sense

We propose that researchers integrate ethics, performance criteria, techniques, and common sense when developing research trapping programs and in which members of institutional animal care and use committees address these topics when evaluating research protocols. To ask questions about ethics is in the best tradition of science, and researchers must be familiar with codes of ethics and guidelines for research published by professional societies. Researchers should always work to improve research methods and to decrease the effects on research animals, if for no other reason than to minimize the chances that the methods influence the animals' behavior in ways that affect research results. Traps used in research should meet performance criteria that address state-of-the-art trapping technology and that optimize animal welfare conditions within the context of the research. The proposal includes the following criteria for traps used in research: As Criterion I, killing-traps should render >/= 70% of animals caught irreversibly unconscious in /= 70% of animals with 相似文献   

Does Human–Animal Similarity Lower the Need to Affirm Humans’ Superiority Relative to Animals? A Social Psychological Viewpoint

This research integrates different social psychological theories to test whether human–animal similarity promotes affiliation with animals and lowers the need to affirm humans’ superiority relative to animals. On the basis of theories of intergroup relations, terror management theory, and work conducted in the field of human–animal relations, we expected that higher human–animal similarity would decrease the need to affirm humans’ superiority relative to animals, by triggering a greater sense of shared social identity. Two correlational studies (ns = 187 and 191) tested a mediation model whereby perceived human–animal similarity was expected to predict a lower need to differentiate the perceived status of humans from animals through a process of social identification with animals. Mediated regressions provided support for these associations. A repeated-measures experiment (n = 176) replicated these findings by systematically comparing objectively (phylogenetically) more vs. less similar animals and assessing perceived status and identification. Results are discussed in light of theories of intergroup relations, terror management theory, as well as recent advances in the field of social psychology and self and identity processes.     

Carbon dioxide for euthanasia: concerns regarding pain and distress, with special reference to mice and rats

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is the most commonly used agent for euthanasia of laboratory rodents, used on an estimated tens of millions of laboratory rodents per year worldwide, yet there is a growing body of evidence indicating that exposure to CO2 causes more than momentary pain and distress in these and other animals. We reviewed the available literature on the use of CO2 for euthanasia (as well as anaesthesia) and also informally canvassed laboratory animal personnel for their opinions regarding this topic. Our review addresses key issues such as CO2 flow rate and final concentration, presence of oxygen, and prefilled chambers (the animal is added to the chamber once a predetermined concentration and flow rate have been reached) versus gradual induction (the animal is put into an empty chamber and the gas agent(s) is gradually introduced at a fixed rate). Internationally, animal research standards specify that any procedure that would cause pain or distress in humans should be assumed to do so in non-human animals as well (Public Health Service 1986, US Department of Agriculture 1997, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development 2000). European Union guidelines, however, specify a certain threshold of pain or distress, such as 'skilled insertion of a hypodermic needle', as the starting point at which regulation of the use of animals in experimental or other scientific procedures begins (Biotechnology Regulatory Atlas n.d.). There is clear evidence in the human literature that CO2 exposure is painful and distressful, while the non-human literature is equivocal. However, the fact that a number of studies do conclude that CO2 causes pain and distress in animals indicates a need for careful reconsideration of its use. Finally, this review offers recommendations for alternatives to the use of CO2 as a euthanasia agent.     

Human–Animal Bonds Between Zoo Professionals and the Animals in Their Care

Some human‐animal relationships can be so positive that they confer emotional well‐being to both partners and can thus be viewed as bonds. In this study, 130 delegates at zoo research and training events completed questionnaires in which they were asked about their professional work in the zoo and whether they believed they had established bonds with any animals. They were also asked to indicate agreement or disagreement with several statements about human‐animal bonds. Results showed that many zoo professionals consider that they have established bonds with some of their animals; 103 respondents believed that they had a bond with at least one animal, and 78 of these identified that the bond was with a zoo animal. The most frequent bonds reported were with primates (n = 24) and carnivores (n = 28). Perceived benefits of these bonds to the respondents included both operational (animal easier to handle, easier to administer treatments to) and affective (sense of well‐being, enjoyment at being with the animal). Identifying benefits to the animals was more difficult. Most respondents identified similar benefits for their animals as for themselves, i.e. operational (animal responded more calmly, appeared less stressed) and affective (animal appeared to enjoy contact with respondent, seemed more content). This suggests that bonding between zoo professionals and their animals could have profound consequences for the management and welfare of the animals, not to mention the job satisfaction of the people involved. Zoo Biol 31:13;–26, 2012. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

On Hans,Zou and the others: wonder animals and the question of animal intelligence in early twentieth-century France

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the advent of widespread pet ownership was accompanied by claims of heightened animal abilities. Psychical researchers investigated many of these claims, including animal telepathy and ghostly apparitions. By the beginning of the twentieth century, news of horses and dogs with the ability to read and calculate fascinated the French public and scientists alike. Amidst questions about the justification of animal cruelty in laboratory experiments, wonder animals came to represent some extraordinary possibilities associated with their kind. Psychologists speculated on the feats of wonder animals. They considered the possibility that these animals shared consciousness and intelligence with humans, and that—if confirmed—their alleged amazing abilities could lead to a new understanding of cognition for all animals. This article focuses on the few years during which claims of wonder animals occupied a significant place in French psychology and psychical research. It argues that as explanations involving deception or unconscious cues gained increased acceptance, the interest in wonder animals soon led to a backlash in comparative psychology that had repercussions for all animals, particularly those used in experimentation, in that it contributed to the decline of research addressing cognitive abilities in non-human species.     

Survey of Canadian animal-based researchers' views on the Three Rs: replacement, reduction and refinement

The 'Three Rs' tenet (replacement, reduction, refinement) is a widely accepted cornerstone of Canadian and international policies on animal-based science. The Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC) initiated this web-based survey to obtain greater understanding of 'principal investigators' and 'other researchers' (i.e. graduate students, post-doctoral researchers etc.) views on the Three Rs, and to identify obstacles and opportunities for continued implementation of the Three Rs in Canada. Responses from 414 participants indicate that researchers currently do not view the goal of replacement as achievable. Researchers prefer to use enough animals to ensure quality data is obtained rather than using the minimum and potentially waste those animals if a problem occurs during the study. Many feel that they already reduce animal numbers as much as possible and have concerns that further reduction may compromise research. Most participants were ambivalent about re-use, but expressed concern that the practice could compromise experimental outcomes. In considering refinement, many researchers feel there are situations where animals should not receive pain relieving drugs because it may compromise scientific outcomes, although there was strong support for the Three Rs strategy of conducting animal welfare-related pilot studies, which were viewed as useful for both animal welfare and experimental design. Participants were not opposed to being offered "assistance" to implement the Three Rs, so long as the input is provided in a collegial manner, and from individuals who are perceived as experts. It may be useful for animal use policymakers to consider what steps are needed to make replacement a more feasible goal. In addition, initiatives that offer researchers greater practical and logistical support with Three Rs implementation may be useful. Encouragement and financial support for Three Rs initiatives may result in valuable contributions to Three Rs knowledge and improve welfare for animals used in science.     

Which evolutionary model best explains the culture of honour?

The culture of honour hypothesis offers a compelling example of how human psychology differentially adapts to pastoral and horticultural environments. However, there is disagreement over whether this pattern is best explained by a memetic, evolutionary psychological, dual inheritance, or niche construction model. I argue that this disagreement stems from two shortcomings: lack of clarity about the theoretical commitments of these models and inadequate comparative data for testing them. To resolve the first problem, I offer a theoretical framework for deriving competing predictions from each of the four models. In particular, this involves a novel interpretation of the difference between dual inheritance theory and cultural niche construction. I then illustrate a strategy for testing their predictions using data from the Human Relations Area File. Empirical results suggest that the aggressive psychological phenotype typically associated with honour culture is more common among pastoral societies than among horticultural societies. Theoretical considerations suggest that this pattern is best explained as a case of cultural niche construction.     

Animal morality: What is the debate about?

Empirical studies of the social lives of non-human primates, cetaceans, and other social animals have prompted scientists and philosophers to debate the question of whether morality and moral cognition exists in non-human animals. Some researchers have argued that morality does exist in several animal species, others that these species may possess various evolutionary building blocks or precursors to morality, but not quite the genuine article, while some have argued that nothing remotely resembling morality can be found in any non-human species. However, these different positions on animal morality generally appear to be motivated more by different conceptions of how the term “morality” is to be defined than by empirical disagreements about animal social behaviour and psychology. After delving deeper into the goals and methodologies of various of the protagonists, I argue that, despite appearances, there are actually two importantly distinct debates over animal morality going on, corresponding to two quite different ways of thinking about what it is to define “morality”, “moral cognition”, and associated notions. Several apparent skirmishes in the literature are thus cases of researchers simply talking past each other. I then focus on what I take to be the core debate over animal morality, which is concerned with understanding the nature and phylogenetic distribution of morality conceived as a psychological natural kind. I argue that this debate is in fact largely terminological and non-substantive. Finally, I reflect on how this core debate might best be re-framed.     

Fluoroquinolone resistance of Escherichia coli and Salmonella from healthy livestock and poultry in the EU

The potential for transmission of antibiotic-resistant enteric zoonotic bacteria from animals to humans has been a public health concern for several decades. Bacteria carrying antibiotic resistance genes found in the intestinal tract of food animals can contaminate carcasses and may lead to food-borne disease in humans that may not respond to antibiotic treatment. It is consequently important to monitor changes in antimicrobial susceptibility of zoonotic and commensal organism; in this context, there are a number of veterinary monitoring programmes that collect bacteria in food-producing animals at slaughter and determine their susceptibility against antibiotics relevant for human medicine. The data generated are part of the risk analysis for potential food-borne transmission of resistance. There has been much debate about the use of fluoroquinolones in veterinary medicine, and so, this review will consider the fluoroquinolone data from two surveys and compare them to national surveillance programmes. At the outset, it must be pointed out that there is, however, a lack of agreement between several programmes on what is meant by the term 'fluoroquinolone resistance' through use of different definitions of resistance and different resistance breakpoints. An additional aim of this paper is to clarify some of those definitions. Despite the debate about the contribution of antibiotic use in veterinary medicine to the overall resistance development in human pathogens, the data suggest that clinical resistance to fluoroquinolones in Escherichia coli and nontyphoidal Salmonella is generally uncommon, except for a few countries. Ongoing surveillance will continue to monitor the situation and identify whether this situation changes within the respective animal populations. For the benefit of both the epidemiologist and the clinician, it would be strongly advantageous that national monitoring surveys report both percentages of clinical resistance and decreased susceptibility.     

The Scalpel and the Butterfly: The Conflict between Animal Research and Animal Protection Deborah Rudacille

ABSTRACT

Although there is a substantial body of research on inter-human empathy and inter-animal empathy, there is a dearth of research comparing humans' empathic reactions to humans and animals. To address this issue, three experiments were conducted in which participants read a scenario about a human or animal abuse victim in need of medical attention, and indicated the degree of empathy they had on an emotional response scale. In Experiment 1, women had significantly more empathy for animals than for humans, whereas men tended to express more empathy for humans than for animals. In Experiment 2, adult women expressed the same degree of empathy for a child as for a puppy. Similarly, in Experiment 3, adult men and women expressed the same degree of empathy for a baby as for a puppy. Overall, results indicated that people feel at least as much empathy for animals as for humans. We suggest that an animal target elicits a great deal of empathy partly because it is perceived as not being responsible for having caused the need situation. Future research will show whether empathy for animals translates to prosocial behavior toward them as well.     

宠物的福利和管理

＂家庭动物＂或＂伴侣动物＂的提法较＂宠物＂而言,更为确切并规范。伴侣动物往往因为种种原因成为城镇的流浪动物,在一定程度上,已经成为社会问题。遗弃宠物的原因尽管多种多样,深层次原因主要还是伦理道德的缺失。流浪动物日益泛滥,正在拷问人类的精神文明,有必要引起全社会的关注。动物福利在当今社会已不仅仅是概念化的一般性号召,一些发达国家出版的动物法典对犬、猫的福利有专题阐述。法典不仅对伴侣动物的各种福利条件作了具体规定,同时还提出了最低标准和最佳方案。本文以犬的食物饲喂、饮水及犬舍的要求为例,逐一介绍。     

Animal Research Ethics in Africa: Is Tanzania Making Progress?

The significance of animals in research cannot be over‐emphasized. The use of animals for research and training in research centres, hospitals and schools is progressively increasing. Advances in biotechnology to improve animal productivity require animal research. Drugs being developed and new interventions or therapies being invented for cure and palliation of all sorts of animal diseases and conditions need to be tested in animals for their safety and efficacy at some stages of their development. Drugs and interventions for human use pass through a similar development process and must be tested pre‐clinically in laboratory animals before clinical trials in humans can be conducted. Therefore, animals are important players in research processes which directly and indirectly benefit animals and humans. However, questions remain as to whether these uses of animals consider the best interests of animals themselves. Various research and training institutions in Tanzania have established some guidelines on animal use, including establishing animal ethics committees. However, most institutions have not established oversight committees. In institutions where there may be guidelines and policies, there are no responsible committees or units to directly oversee if and how these guidelines and policies are enforced; thus, implementation becomes difficult or impossible. This paper endeavours to raise some issues associated with the responsible use of animals in research and training in Tanzania and highlights suggestions for improvement of deficiencies that exist in order to bridge the gap between what ought to be practised and what is practised.     

Animals as sentinels: using comparative medicine to move beyond the laboratory

The comparative medicine approach, as applied to the study of laboratory animals for the betterment of human health, has resulted in important medical and scientific progress. Much of what is known about the human health risks of many toxic and infectious hazards present in the environment derives from experimental studies in animals and observational (epidemiological) studies of exposed human populations. Yet there is a third source of "in vivo" knowledge about host-environment interactions that may be underused and -explored: the study of diseases in naturally occurring animal populations that may signal potential human health threats. Just as canaries warned coal miners of the risk of toxic gases, other nonhuman animals, due to their greater susceptibility, environmental exposure, or shorter life span, may serve as "sentinels" for human environmental health hazards. Traditionally, communication between human and animal health professionals about cross-species sentinel events has been limited, but progress in comparative genomics, animal epidemiology, and bioinformatics can now provide an enhanced forum for such communication. The "One Health" concept involves moving toward a comparative clinical approach that considers "shared risks" between humans and animals and promotes greater cooperation and collaboration between human and animal health professionals to identify and reduce such risks. In doing so, it also creates new opportunities for the field of comparative medicine that can supplement traditional laboratory animal research.     

Approaches to the study of higher cognitive functions related to creativity in nonhuman animals

Fundamental to creativity is prior knowledge and learning capability. One can be creative only to the extent that one's prior knowledge and learning abilities enable. Many of the mental functions of humans that are affected by neuropathology involve levels of learning ability that supercede those used by most animal researchers. Yet there is literature showing that there are similarities in structure and function in the cerebrum within class Mammalia and that nonhuman animals are capable of higher levels of learning than those typically studied by neuroscientists. Reviews of abstracts from the 2005 meeting of the Society for Neuroscience reveal that most neurobehavioral research with animals has involved relatively low levels of learning ability. Thomas's [R.K. Thomas, Brain, Behav. Evol. 17 (1980) 452-474.] hierarchy of learning abilities has been revised here to better include Learning Set Formation which is fundamental to most forms of higher learning. This paper summarizes both the rationale and the methodologies that might be used to assess the roles of neuroanatomical structures involved in the psychological processes that serve as the bases of creativity.     

An evolutionary perspective on physical attractiveness

Everyday experience suggests that physical attractiveness is important in personal—and especially sexual—relationships. This impression is confirmed by a large body of social psychological research.^1,2 Cross-cultural surveys and ethnographic accounts show that concern with the attractiveness of potential mates is also common in non-Western societies and in tribal and peasant cultures.³ However, social psychologists and anthropologists have often had a hard time explaining why attractiveness should count for so much, or why some features rather than others should seem particularly attractive. The theoretical difficulties in accounting for physical attraction are brought out in a Brazilian saying, “Beleza nâo pôe na mesa” (“Good looks don't put anything on the table”), which points to the absence of any evident practical advantage to choosing an attractive mate. Faced with these difficulties, a growing number of researchers in biology, psychology, and anthropology have turned to the modern theory of sexual selection, which has been highly successful in explaining nonhuman animals attractions to traits of no direct ecological utility. In this article, I survey recent efforts to apply the theory of sexual selection to human physical attraction.