The nature of human–animal interactions is diverse. Animals have been an essential part of human lives for centuries, from being hunting partners to companion animals at home and livestock raised for human consumption at farms. Given this bond and inter-dependence, significance of attitude toward animals and other related influential factors is increasingly being recognized within the field of human–animal relationships as well as animal welfare. More recently, researchers have increasingly highlighted people’s positive attitude toward animals due to their numerous physical and psychological benefits for individuals as well as society. These benefits included enhanced physical health, increased happiness, reduced loneliness and anxiety, and enhanced social interactions.

Similarly, animals are an integral part of people’s lives in Pakistan. They serve various roles as pets, livestock, transportation and food animals, even being part of religious practices. However, despite playing such crucial roles in society, very little is understood about how people view and treat animals in general and how these views affect animal welfare. 

It is important for students to understand ethical issues and to implement a change that supports animal welfare. Young adults are at a crucial stage of transitioning into adulthood and have a vested interest in the future of the society. They are further exposed to a multitude of information through different channels that lead to formation of views and opinions about critical topics. To bring about such a change requires considering students’ existing understanding, including their views on moral reasoning and ethical concerns.

To the best knowledge of the authors, the current study is the first one to explore ethical ideologies alongside attitude toward animals among students in Pakistan. The study showed that there was a positive relationship between ethical ideologies (idealism and relativism) and positive attitude toward animals. Individuals who believed that their moral behaviors always led to desirable outcomes as well as held universal moral principle were more concerned about animal welfare and held more positive attitudes towards animals. Further, individuals who believed that moral decision should be based on situational factors were also concerned for animal welfare. It was also evident from findings of study that students in advanced stages of their program held greater idealistic ideologies as compared to students in their initial semesters. Lastly, idealism was found to predict positive attitude and concern for animal wellbeing among students.

Read the full paper here: Khalid, A., Martens, P. & Khalid, A. (2023) Impact of Ethical Ideologies on Students’ Attitude toward Animals – A Pakistani Perspective. Animals, 13(3), 927.

Many people regard animal-based medical research as justifiable because of medical and social benefits that may come from it, yet little evidence is available to support this view. According to the 3Rs (replacement, refinement, and reduction) seeking alternatives that both minimize adverse effects on and improve the welfare of experimental animals needs more attention. Public attitudes toward animal-based medical research may be an important variable in directing the discussion of laboratory animal welfare.

The present study, therefore, investigated public attitudes toward laboratory animals in medical research, ranging from endangered
wild animals (e.g., chimpanzees, dolphins), farm animals (e.g., cows, pigs), companion animals (e.g., dogs, cats) to some typical laboratory animals (e.g., rats, insects). These attitudes are then discussed from the perspective of East Asian and Anglo-American cultures.

Our results demonstrate that people with a higher ‘compassion to animals’ score have a more welfare-oriented attitude toward animal-based medical research. This indicates that people’s concern for animal welfare is inherent to challenging animal-based medical research. However, using animals in medical research helps to save humans’ lives, which can generate a moral conflict for individuals who disagree with animal use . More generally, the awareness of both animal welfare and the need for medical breakthroughs may promote efforts to seek alternatives (e.g., computer models, artificial animals) to replace animal usage, which, to some extent, could alleviate the conflict of values between medical progress and animal use. However, a growing number of people challenges or refutes animal-based research, independent of their nationalities and cultures.

Read the full paper here: Su, B., Zhang, C. & Martens, P. (2021). Attitudes in China, Japan, and the Netherlands toward the use of animals in medical research. Anthrozoos.

The ethics of human/animal relationships is a growing field of academic research and a topic for public discussion and regulatory interventions from law-makers, governments and private institutions. Human/animal relationships are in transformation and understanding the nature of this process is crucial for all those who believe that the enlargement of moral and legal recognition to nonhuman animals is part of contemporary moral and political progress. Understanding the nature of this process means analysing and critically discussing the philosophical, scientific and legal concepts and arguments embedded in it. This book contributes to the discussion by bringing together the ideas and reflections of leading experts from different disciplinary backgrounds and with a range of scientific perspectives. Furthermore, this book both provides an up-to-date examination of the transformation of human/animal relationships and presents ideas to foster this process.

See our contribution here: Martens, P. & Su, B. (2022). Perceiving Animals Through Different Demographic and Cultural Lenses. In: Human/Animal Relationships in Transformation: Scientific, Moral and Legal Perspectives. Vitale, A. & Pollo, S. (eds.). Palgrave Macmillan, p. 93-118.