Animal Ethos
Animal Ethos
The Morality of Human-Animal Encounters in Experimental Lab Science
LESLEY A. SHARP
University of California Press
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information, visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2019 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Sharp, Lesley Alexandra, author.
Title: Animal ethos : the morality of human-animal encounters in experimental lab science / Lesley A. Sharp.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2019] | Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2018014111 (print) | LCCN 2018015470 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520971059 (ebook) | ISBN 9780520299245 (cloth : alk. paper) | ISBN 9780520299252 (pbk. : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Laboratory animals—Moral and ethical aspects. | Human-animal relationships—Moral and ethical aspects. | Animal welfare—Moral and ethical aspects.
Classification: LCC QL55 (ebook) | LCC QL55.s532 2019 (print) | DDC 174.2/8—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018014111
28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 19
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
In loving memory of my wonderful brother
Erik Rodman Sharp, E#
— A Great Tree of a Man —
December 5, 1958–February6 , 2016
Checkmate
Contents
Introduction: Moral Entanglements in Experimental Animal Science
Everyday Morality in Laboratory Practice
The Boundaries of Interspecies Encounters
The Parameters of Ethnographic Engagement
1. The Sentimental Structure of Laboratory Life
Animal Welfare and Species Preference
Modeling Human-Animal Intimacy
The Intimacy of Laboratory Encounters
Affective Politics
Conclusion: Sentimental Values
2. Why Do Monkeys Watch TV?
A Monkey’s History of Visual Media
Primetime for Primates
Macaque Care in Practice: Welfare as Domestication
Coda
PART II: SACRIFICE: AN INTERLUDE
3. The Lives and Deaths of Laboratory Animals
Animal Erasures
Beyond the Trope of Sacrifice
Managed Suffering and Humane Care
Reimagining Moral Frameworks of Care
Conclusion: The Limitations of Humane Death
PART III: EXCEPTIONALISM
4. Science and Salvation
The Politics of Animal Suffering
Specialized Practices of Animal Welfare
Eclectic Forms of Animal Exceptionalism
Conclusion: Totemic Creatures
5. The Animal Commons
The Ethos of Sharing
Uncommon Creatures
The Animal Commons
Conclusion: Other Animals’ Fates
Conclusion: The Other Animal
Notes
References
Index
Illustrations
1. “Hydrophobia—M. Pasteur’s Experiments,” illustration from Harper’s Weekly, 1884
2. Monument to the Little Brown Dog, Battersea Park, London
3. “Scene at a dog dealer’s compound, 1966,” photograph by Stan Wayman for Life
5. Edinburgh Zoo chimpanzees responding to “Apes as Family,” part of Rachel Mayeri’s Primate Cinema series
6. “Who would you RAT/HER see live?” billboard produced by the Foundation for Biomedical Research
7. “Thanks to animal research, they’ll be able to protest 20.8 years longer,” poster produced by the Foundation for Biomedical Research
8. “Help the Horse to Save the Soldier,” World War I Blue Cross poster illustrated by Fortunino Matania
9. Animals in War Memorial, Hyde Park, London, by artist David Backhouse
10.