What Animals Want: Expertise and Advocacy in Laboratory Animal Welfare Policy

I loved this book. I have always been sympathetic to arguments made by the animal rights community about the plight of animals in laboratories. I've also always believed that the work scientists do in those laboratories makes long, healthy, human lives possible. I've never before known what to believe about what kinds of research scientists really need to use animals for, and what kinds of welfare concerns scientists actually heed. The arguments on this topic generate lots of heat and little light.Until this book. Carbone is a veterinarian who has made a career taking care of animals in laboratories and fighting for their welfare. He does this because he thinks scientific research is important, but he also cares deeply about the animals used by the scientists. In this book, he straddles the "radical middle" on the topic. He argues that we can figure out what animals want, and not necessarily by listening to what scientific studies of pain and distress tell us they want. I found myself writing in the margins on every page, because the arguments are interesting and thought provoking all the way through. I'd highly recommend this for anyone interested in animal rights, animal research, or medical progress.

Dr. Carbone's beautifully written, engaging, and balanced analysis of laboratory animal welfare policy should be required reading for anybody interested in the multitude of ethical questions that arise from the care and use of animals for human needs. It should also be required reading for anybody not interested in these important issues as they will become interested after reading just the first chapter. This book is accessible to experts as well as the lay reader. In his book, Dr. Carbone presents a clear, focused, and succinct history of laboratory animal welfare policy and in doing so raises fascinating questions throughout the book. The book focuses on a crucial question, simple and often overlooked: how do we know what animals want? Every chapter is superb. For example, his case studies on death by decapitation, dog exercise and primate psychological well-being illustrate fascinating connections between (animal welfare) science and policy and highlight the strengths and limitations of science in helping us determine (or rather, guess) what animals want. Because Dr. Carbone's analysis is remarkably balanced for such a controversial and often polarized issue, his book will stimulate all those interested in debates about animal care and use - whether for scientific study or for food - to think more deeply about their own deeply held views.