Breeding for behavioural change in farm animals: Practical, economic and ethical 1 considerations

In farm animal breeding, behavioural traits are rarely included in selection programmes despite their potential to improve animal production and welfare. Breeding goals have been broadened beyond production traits in most farm animal species to include health and functional traits, and oppor...

Is it acceptable to use animals to model obese humans? - A critical discussion of two arguments against the use of animals in obesity research

Animal use in medical research is widely accepted on the basis that it may help to save human lives and improve their quality. Recently, however, objections have been made specifically to the use of animals in scientific investigation of human obesity. This paper discusses two...

Welfare assessment in transgenic pigs expressing green fluorescent protein (GFP)

Since large animal transgenesis has been successfully attempted for the first time about 25 years ago, the technology has been applied in various lines of transgenic pigs. Nevertheless one of the concerns with the technology - animal welfare - has not been approached th...

Killing of animals in science – is it always inevitable?

Within the ethical discussion of animal experimentation, the questions of why, how many, and under what circumstances animals are (or should be) used takes precedence over the fact that virtually all lab animals are killed after their scientific utility. When death is indeed an...