04:43
Governmental and industry representatives have repeatedly claimed that Aotearoa New Zealand leads the world on animal welfare. Unfortunately, however, it is clear that substantial welfare problems remain prevalent within the farming of all main species within New Zealand. My article at https://rebrand.ly/2020/AW-in-NZ (also at https://AndrewKnight.info) and summarised here, also provides recomm...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
04:44
Should we experiment on non-human primates (NHPs)? A short introduction to the harms and benefits of such research, and a call for greater protection of NHPs. Introduces our article: Carvalho, C., Gaspar, A., Knight, A., and Vicente, L. (2019). Ethical and scientific pitfalls concerning laboratory research with non-human primates, and possible solutions. Animals, 9(1), 12. https://www.mdpi.com/...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
05:35
A quick introduction to our report examining the animal welfare problems and disease risks created by intensive meat chicken farming, including the risks of future global pandemics. It also highlights action supermarkets can take to address these risks.
The full report is: Open Cages, Knight A and Wiebers D (2020). A British Pandemic: the Cruelty and Danger of Supermarket Chicken. UK: Open Ca...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
01:39
Summarises the animal welfare problems experienced by sow confined within farrowing crates. Introduces my 2018 report 'Uncaging New Zealand's Sows: Scrutinising New Zealand’s Farrowing Crates': http://www.andrewknight.info/reports/...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
05:17
Can animal experiments help cure depression? Unfortunately not, because animal research contributes little to human medical developments in this field. Here, we summarise our studies of the contributions of different forms of research to advances in depression understanding and treatment. Our full papers may be found at https://rebrand.ly/2020/MDD-Front-Psych, https://rebrand.ly/2020/MDD-PLoS-O...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
05:11
Harmful animal use in education and training remains widespread among life and health sciences disciplines. Humane teaching alternatives include ethically-sourced cadavers, models, mannequins, mechanical simulators, videos, computer and virtual reality simulations, and supervised clinical and surgical experiences. In this study we assessed and summarized studies of their educational effectivene...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
03:26
In response to the illegal wildlife trade, wild animals are often seized, confiscated, and subsequent managed. Unfortunately, confiscated live animals often experience substandard care. We interviewed 18 experts from seven countries in Southeast Asia, to investigate barriers to appropriate care and management, and particularly, appropriate ‘disposal’ of confiscated live animals. We proposed sev...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
03:38
There are around 160 million farmed animals based in New Zealand. The heavy national footprint of animal agriculture within New Zealand has had devastating impacts for its environment, public health, and animal welfare. This report describes how, and why, a transition to a cleaner, greener, plant-based future, can be achieved. Most of the concerns are applicable to any country, as are the solut...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
04:26
Farmed Animal Welfare Law in New Zealand: Investigating the gap between the Animal Welfare Act 1999 and its delegated legislation.
The New Zealand Animal Law Association is excited to release a research report which focuses on farmed animals in New Zealand.
This report, funded by the New Zealand Law Foundation, has revealed a substantial gap between the overarching standards of animal welfar...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
02:58
A Clinical Skills Laboratory (CSL) is important for teaching surgical and medical skills to veterinary and medical students. Our recent article at http://rebrand.ly/2018/CSL (also at https://AndrewKnight.info) and summarised here, describes steps and considerations important during the establishment of a successful CSL, based on our experiences in establishing and directing the state of the art...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
03:42
Many thousands of greyhounds continue to be seriously injured whilst racing, and many of these are killed. Injuries and deaths are partly due to the speeds at which greyhounds race. They are the fastest breed of dog, able to maintain average running speeds of around 40 mph (65 km/h). However, many factors relate to the design of the tracks and races themselves, and are preventable. My report 'I...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025
03:44
Some claim vegan pet food may be less palatable, or may compromise animal welfare. But are such claims actually true? In 2020 we surveyed dog or cat guardians asking about behaviours displayed by their pets at meal times. Analysis of the behaviour of 2,308 dogs and 1,135 cats revealed no significant differences overall, between animals fed vegan or meat-based diets (conventional or raw meat). O...
Posted Saturday, September 27, 2025