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Psychology

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Repetitive Behaviour in Kennelled Domestic Dog: Stereotypical or Not?
Behavior in animals that is repetitive, unvarying, and has no obvious goal is often described as "stereotypical." It is generally seen most frequently in situations of captivity and / or stress. However, not all repetitive behavior is stereotypical, and this study seeks to better understand how kenneled domestic dogs display (or don't display) this behavior. The research finds a tremendous variance in the stimuli that can trigger stereotypical behavior, and notes the difficulty in assessing exact causes. READ MORE

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The Trouble with Insect Cyborgs
The use of animals by the military is not new, but it seems to be forever evolving into new areas. This article outlines recent moves by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to develop insect cyborgs - fusing insect bodies with hardware that facilitates their control by humans for military purposes. The paper acts as an overview of insect cyborg developments, as well as a deconstruction of the ways in which humans justify the use and killing of insects. READ MORE

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“Pets or Meat”? Ethics and Domestic Animals
There is often a deep disconnect and great variation in how we treat farmed, companion, and wild animals. Using a particular scene from Michael Moore's documentary Roger and Me as a starting point - a scene where backyard rabbits are sold as "pets or meat" - this article unpacks the ethics around our perceptions of the different categorizations of animals. The author approaches the subject by viewing these categories of animals through the lens of an "ethic of care," and suggests ways of acting ethically towards all wild, companion, and farmed animals. READ MORE

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Package This: Beauty Consumers Favor ‘Cruelty Free’ and ‘Natural’ Product Claims
For consumers of beauty products, labels are an important way of discerning which items to buy, and for addressing a wide variety of consumer concerns. A Neilsen poll shows that purchasing products that are "not tested on animals" is important for a majority of beauty product consumers, and labels are the primary method of finding out this information. However, there is some discrepancy between the number of consumers who consider animal welfare important, and those that are willing to pay extra for cruelty-free products. READ MORE

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Unmasking the Shelter Dog
The suggestions that black dogs are frequently overlooked for adoption, or that animals given as gifts are more likely to be given up, are just a couple of many theories becoming increasingly entrenched in our language, and these are having a serious effect on the operation of many animal shelters. This article from the Journal for the American Veterinary Medical Association, notes that scientists are working hard to verify whether these ideas have any substance in fact or if they are simply myths. The central theme of the piece is that there are no "shelter dogs" or "shelter cats," but instead each animal in a shelter is an individual being that needs to be considered as a separate case. READ MORE

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Rationalizing Meat Consumption: The 4Ns
As more evidence emerges that eating meat damages the environment, affects personal health, and causes suffering to animals, some people are finding it increasingly difficult to justify consuming it. This study looks at the psychological mechanisms that people employ to solve the "meat paradox" - continuing to eat meat despite a growing body of evidence that action should be taken to the contrary. The researchers find that, among the various techniques used, people most often employ a strategy that frames meat eating as natural, normal, necessary, and nice. READ MORE

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Normalizing the Unthinkable: The Ethics of Using Animals in Research
Despite years of advocate opposition and growing concern from the general public, animal experimentation remains an entrenched part of most of the scientific establishment. This publication from the U.K., prepared by Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics, looks to challenge the practice of animal experimentation from every angle: scientific, financial, institutional, and ethical. The paper brings together a plethora of sources into one comprehensive document that argues that animal experiments are ethically unsupportable and create bad science. READ MORE

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The Unbearable Whiteness of Milk: Food Oppression and the USDA
Despite the massive popularity of animal-derived foods as part of a typical North American diet, many of these food and drink consumables are heavily subsidized and reliant on marketing campaigns to sustain their prominence. This study looks at the political forces that promote and subsidize milk products, specifically the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and how its dual role as a nutrition advisor and milk promoter puts it in a deep conflict of interest. The research also examines how USDA policies and milk marketing have disproportionately and negatively affected people of color in the U.S. READ MORE
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