When research animals become pets and pets become research animals

Care, Death, and Animal Classification

Bibliographic Data

ID3977217
AuthorsAlexandra Palmer (0000-0001-5273-4813, School of Geography and the Environment, Oxford University Centre for the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK, corresponding author), Thomas Skidmore (0000-0001-8816-4082, University of Southampton), Alistair Anderson (0000-0003-2385-0211, University of Nottingham)
Year2023
Volume24
Issue9
Pages1519-1537
Publication date2023-10-21
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSocial & Cultural Geography (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1464-9365 • E-ISSN: 1470-1197
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14649365.2022.2073465
PMID38656701
OpenAlexW4280631771
LanguageEN
Citations received9
References cited36

This paper explores what happens to care, and decisions about ending and extending life, when research animals become pets and pets become research animals. To do this, we draw on in-depth qualitative research on (i) rehoming of laboratory animals, (ii) veterinary clinical research, and (iii) the role of the Named Veterinary Surgeon (NVS) in UK animal research. We begin by exploring how (in theory and practice) the ethical, affective, and practical elements of care are split in the research laboratory. We then investigate arguments for and against ending and extending animal life via clinical research and rehoming, highlighting how these activities bring norms and dilemmas around animal death in the laboratory and veterinary clinic to the fore. We conclude by demonstrating the value of investigating borders between animal categories for understanding dilemmas around care and death, and for contributing to emerging literatures within geography around animal care, death, and categorisation. Key contributions of our work include highlighting: how care roles can be split; the importance of considering speculative and in-practice elements of care; the context-dependency and multiplicity of practices of killing in the veterinary clinic and laboratory; and the flexibility and changing nature of animal categories

Animal life · Animal welfare · Biology · Companion animal · Context (archaeology · Flexibility (engineering · Geography · Management · Qualitative research · Social science · Sociology · Veterinary medicine · Animal testing and alternatives · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Human-Animal Interaction Studies · Medicine · Psychology · Ecology