The Unheeded Cry

From The Critics

Reviewer: Jonathan Hale Foreman, DVM, MS(University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine)
Description: This second edition book is authored by one of the world's leading philosophers in animal welfare. The book is written sequentially, making it difficult to skip from one chapter to another without losing the progression of the author's central thesis. The last chapter represents a 1997 update of the original 1989 version, with five mini-essays on the current state of animal welfare in scientific research.
Purpose: The author's purpose in writing the original version in 1989 was to expose students to the central premise that scientists have "suspended" everyday common sense as an integral part of the scientific method. It is argued that scientists simply do not think about inflicting pain upon research animals, whereas they would take personal affront if one were to fail to treat pain in their own personal pets.
Audience: The intended audience is students of veterinary medicine and bioethics.
Features: The text is minimally illustrated (two graphs in Chapter 9) but extensively referenced.
Assessment: The author makes a convincing historical argument. He cites conventional literature sources in a Socratic attempt to lead the scientist-reader to accept the central premise. Despite the 1997 update, the author fails to acknowledge the current rigors of institutional and federal scrutiny in scientific investigations using animal subjects. A sanctioned research project with animal subjects is impossible today without several levels of institutional review (including the university level) by a broad committee which includes lay representatives who have not "compartmentalized common sense" in an effort to promote scientific endeavors. As a history of the efforts of animal rights activists in modifying the views of scientists toward their animal subjects, the text is valuable, but it contains little contemporary insight into the animal welfare concerns of today's scientists.

Jonathan H. Foreman

This second edition book is authored by one of the world's leading philosophers in animal welfare. The book is written sequentially, making it difficult to skip from one chapter to another without losing the progression of the author's central thesis. The last chapter represents a 1997 update of the original 1989 version, with five mini-essays on the current state of animal welfare in scientific research. The author's purpose in writing the original version in 1989 was to expose students to the central premise that scientists have ""suspended"" everyday common sense as an integral part of the scientific method. It is argued that scientists simply do not think about inflicting pain upon research animals, whereas they would take personal affront if one were to fail to treat pain in their own personal pets. The intended audience is students of veterinary medicine and bioethics. The text is minimally illustrated (two graphs in Chapter 9) but extensively referenced. The author makes a convincing historical argument. He cites conventional literature sources in a Socratic attempt to lead the scientist-reader to accept the central premise. Despite the 1997 update, the author fails to acknowledge the current rigors of institutional and federal scrutiny in scientific investigations using animal subjects. A sanctioned research project with animal subjects is impossible today without several levels of institutional review (including the university level) by a broad committee which includes lay representatives who have not ""compartmentalized common sense"" in an effort to promote scientific endeavors. As a history of the efforts of animal rights activists in modifying the views of scientiststoward their animal subjects, the text is valuable, but it contains little contemporary insight into the animal welfare concerns of today's scientists.

Booknews

Updated edition of an animal-rights book first published by Oxford U. Press in 1989. Rollins (philosophy and physiology, Colorado State U.) argues against the objective, value-free stance of scientists who use animals by showing that this stance leads to the denial of the existence of animal consciousness and pain. In his study Rollins looks at his subject from the scientific and philosophic sides simultaneously, drawing on the work of Wittgenstein, Lloyd Morgan, McDougall, Buytendijk, Herrnstein, and Gallup. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

2 Stars from Doody