Thinking outside the Cage: Towards a Nonspeciesist Paradigm for Scientific Research

Thinking outside the Cage: Towards a Nonspeciesist Paradigm for Scientific Research was an APPLE-sponsored conference held at Queen’s in March 2014. Scientific research is currently governed on the premise that humans have a right to use sentient animals as subjects of harmful research for our benefit. What would a non-speciesist alternative look like?

We invited leading scientists, public policy experts, humane educators, legal scholars and political theorists to help us identify the opportunities and challenges involved in pursuing a new ethical, legal and political framework regarding animals in research. Can the same legal and regulatory safeguards regarding the use of human subjects in research also be extended to animal subjects? Can questions regarding the treatment of animals within academic institutions be reframed as matters of public responsibility, and made subject to democratic deliberation by the larger community?

Participants included:

• John Gluck
• Will Kymlicka
• Gloria Grow
• Jonathan Balcombe
• Olivier Berreville
• Dan Lyons
• Vaughan Black
• Laura Janara
• Elisabeth Ormandy

This conference encouraged critical reflection on the limits of existing regulations, and inspired creative thinking about alternative frameworks and effective avenues to change. Funding was generously provided by the Abby Benjamin Fellowship program, and the Queen’s Forum for Philosophy and Public Policy.