Challenging Structural Barriers to Creating Ethical Space in Wildlife Research Ethics Policy

Bibliographic Data

ID12496367
AuthorsÉlise Brown-Dussault (Yukon University, corresponding author), Jared Gonet (0000-0003-2368-5375, Yukon University), Tara E Stehelin (0009-0001-2030-4189, Yukon University)
Year2025
Volume38
Issue2
Publication date2025-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1187-7863 • E-ISSN: 1573-322X
PublisherSpringer Science+Business Media (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1007/s10806-025-09951-7
OpenAlexW4411311596
LanguageEN
References cited24

Canadian institutions face public and political pressure to include Indigenous voices and Indigenous Knowledge in their governing structures. This often results in a scramble to retrofit boards and committees to demonstrate inclusivity, often by inviting Indigenous representatives or knowledge from Indigenous sources. However, representation does not mean attributing equal power to those representatives if institutions do not challenge their inner policy structures. In research spaces, this can be observed in research ethics policy, which has been widely challenged but remains stubborn to change. This report seeks to identify the procedures and policies within animal care and ethics that categorically exclude knowledge and knowledge-holders falling outside the Western Scientific Knowledge realm. We explore this subject by identifying exclusive policies and procedures within an exemplar ethics board, an Animal Care Committee under the guidelines of the Canadian Council on Animal Care (CCAC). We briefly identify some of the foundational beliefs underlying animal care and ethics policy, how they inform current policy, and how they are exclusive of knowledge outside the Western Scientific worldview. We urge ACC committees at institutions to revisit these policies and to adapt their vision on knowledge, credibility, respectful protocols, and acceptable justification for research, for which we provide several recommendations

Biology · Engineering ethics · Environmental ethics · Ethical issues · Political science · Sociology · Space Policy · Wildlife · Animal testing and alternatives · Computer Science · Engineering · Philosophy · Wildlife Ecology and Conservation · Zoonotic diseases and public health · Ecology

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Open DOIOpen Access