Dear ASI friend,


As we step into summer and into the second half of the year, I wanted to share some updates with all of our members and supporters. June is an exciting month for ASI - our Spring Matching Gift Campaign has been extended into the month of June, and the special issue of the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science, which includes seven open access articles, is out. We also celebrated Animal Rights Awareness Week last week which was another opportunity to direct attention to our global consciousness, and we invite you to continue the conversation in advancing knowledge to improve animal lives. 


Thank you for your continued support and believing in our work to create safer and more compassionate communities. 

With Gratitude

Executive Director

EXTENDED SPRING MATCHING GIFT CAMPAIGN

Spring is in the air, and as flowers are blooming, so is our fundraising! We’re stopping to smell the roses just a little bit longer by continuing the Spring Matching Gift Campaign momentum created through the generosity of our supporters by extending the Campaign throughout the month of June. All donations up to $10k will be doubled, and your gift will help us carry on our crucial work. 

Click here to donate today. 

The Journal of Applied Animal Welfare


We are excited to share that, between January - March 2022, the articles published in the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare have been downloaded 42,985 times! That’s a significant increase compared to 2021 which saw 31,226 downloads for the same quarter. 


ASI is also excited to make open access all seven articles in the just-published Special Issue of Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science (JAAWS), Volume 25, Issue 2 (2022), themed, “Human-Animal Relationships and Welfare in the Anthropocene: Pandemics, Climate Change, and other Disasters.”


The Special Issue brings animal others into broader discussions about welfare, health, disaster management, and ethics in this time of extremes, where the current pandemic and the climate crisis facing our planet are placing both human and nonhuman animal lives and livelihoods at risk. 


Society & Animals


Our latest issue of Society and Animals (S&A), Volume 30, Issue 3 (2022) is out, too. The articles in this issue are subscription only, and ASI members can enjoy a 50% discount on subscriptions. If you’d like to become a member and take advantage of all the membership benefits and resources, click here for more info. 





Our previous issue of Society & Animals offers a number of open access articles for readers to enjoy. Here are a few of the titles you can find in this issue: 

 






You may also search abstracts and full articles, through ASI’s searchable Digital Archive.

ASI/A&S Colloquium Series



ASI Board Member and Professor of History and Africana Studies, Thomas Aiello, hosted a Publishing Workshop as part of the ASI/A&S Colloquium Series. This workshop examined publishing opportunities in human-animal studies using as an exemplary case study an analysis of the history and criticism of Pornocrates, a late-nineteenth century painting by Belgian artist Félicien Rops, in relation to interpretations of human-animal difference. If you missed this workshop, you can view the recording and other past workshops here


Buffalo and Uvalde Mass Murderers had Documented

History of Animal Abuse


Author Dr. Kenneth Shapiro, ASI Board President


While it is not news to readers of this newsletter, given the recent spate of mass killings it is worth reminding ourselves of the link between human violence and animal abuse. Both the perpetrator of the Buffalo, NY and Uvalde, TX killings had committed egregious acts of animal cruelty. Moreover, the acts were recent and the perpetrators shared them on social media. More than two decades ago, we learned that most of the perpetrators of the spate of, specifically, school-based killings also had histories of animal abuse.


These strong and perduring correlations should inform the current efforts on the Federal level to establish Extreme Risk Protection Orders, known as “red flag” laws, that would allow authorities to keep guns away from people found by a judge to represent a potential threat to themselves or others. At this writing, there is bipartisan support in the Senate for a measure that would provide federal funding to encourage states to adopt red flag laws. As argued in a recent Animal Wellness Action blurb (May 31,2022), “animal cruelty is the reddest flag of all for mass murderers.”


ASI views such legislation as a limited but productive first step that addresses the unconscionable specter of mass shooting in the US. Through our AniCare® and BARK™ programs we train mental health workers to identify, assess, and treat both juveniles and adults who abuse animals. Recent trainings have been held (virtually) at the schools of social work at the University of Connecticut and New York University and through Core Learning, a Michigan-based continuing education program for social workers.

*Please note that legislation could be updated by the time this is posted. 


Author Kenneth Shapiro - President of the Board, Animals and Society Institute. Kenneth Shapiro earned his BA from Harvard University and his PhD in clinical psychology from Duke University. He is cofounder of the Animals and Society Institute. He founded Psychologists for the Ethical treatment of Animals and the Society and Animals Forum. He is founder and editor of Society and Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies; cofounder and coeditor of Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science; and editor of the Human-Animal Studies book series. His most recent book is Animal Models of Human Psychology: Critique of Science, Ethics and Policy. He is one of the developers of AniCare® and AniCare® Child, the only psychological treatment models for animal abusers, and trains therapists throughout the country on the use of these models.

The Policy Corner


Happy the Elephant and Nonhuman Personhood


Author Anna Balser- ASI Policy Volunteer




















Photo Credit: Gigi Glendinning Source: Nonhuman Rights Project



Welcome to another edition of the Policy Corner! This time I want to focus on the case of Happy the elephant and its implications in the larger debate about nonhuman personhood. Happy’s case will be familiar to many of you. She is an elephant who has lived at the Bronx Zoo since the late 1970s, after being captured from the wild in Thailand. Happy has spent most of her life living alone, separated from the other elephants at the Bronx Zoo. The Nonhuman Rights Project has spent years advocating for Happy’s release to a sanctuary where she can live the last chapter of her life in a more spacious environment that has other elephants who she can interact with. 


They are attempting to free Happy by petitioning the New York State Court of Appeals for a writ of habeas corpus, which has historically been used to challenge the unlawful confinement of humans. If the Court rules in their favor, Happy will legally be considered a person with rights. You can read a comprehensive timeline of their work on behalf of Happy here


If the Court of Appeals does grant Happy personhood, their decision will have wide-reaching implications for other nonhumans who are kept in captivity in the United States. Because of this, it’s important to ponder questions about personhood in general, the nature of captivity, and what “freedom” really means.


Happy’s ability to recognize herself in a mirror—passing the “mirror test” that is used as a shorthand for self-awareness—is cited as a main factor as to why she should be considered a legal person. However, not every elephant can pass the mirror test. Does this mean that only certain elephants are worthy of being persons? And is the mirror test the best way of determining self-awareness in nonhumans in the first place? It’s worth considering the implications of relying on one test to argue the case for personhood, especially as our understanding of nonhuman cognition continues to evolve and expand.


Discussions on zoos often set them as the opposite of sanctuaries—and ideologically, they can be. However, the sanctuary is still a form of captivity, and Happy will still be under human control and have decisions made for her if she does move to a sanctuary environment. Conflating living at a sanctuary with “being free” flattens the ethical nuances that exist in the sanctuary space. While a sanctuary environment will undoubtedly give Happy more space to roam, more elephants to spend time with, and a caregiving staff who center the sanctuary’s mission, it is still a captive setting where humans will make decisions on Happy’s behalf. And, of course, Happy won’t be able to select a sanctuary for herself–it will be chosen for her. 


These limitations aren’t reasons to keep Happy in the Bronx Zoo, but they are worth considering as we collectively grapple with what it means to be a (nonhuman) person and what it means to be free. 


Edit: Shortly after this piece was written, the Court denied the petition to grant Happy personhood, meaning that Happy will remain at the Bronx Zoo. Although this verdict came as a disappointment, the Nonhuman Rights Project expressed optimism for the future due to two statements of dissent out of the seven judges who voted on the decision. The fight for Happy’s relocation to a sanctuary continues. 


About Anna- Anna holds an MS in Anthrozoology from Canisius College, where she primarily focused her studies on sanctuary regulation, public policy, and animal ethics. After living on the west coast for the past seven years, Anna recently relocated to upstate New York, where she is the Education Manager at Woodstock Farm Sanctuary. She loves helping people question their assumptions about farmed animals and think deeply about interspecies relationships, always with the goal of building a more compassionate world. She is thrilled to be working on the Policy Corner this year! 

Animal Welfare Sentience Act 2022


Post-brexit, the UK is no longer subject to EU’s policies related to animal welfare. To correct this situation (and to maintain its reputation as a leading advocate of animal welfare*), the UK recently passed the “Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022.” While the act does not define sentience, it does include a broad definition of animals that are considered sentient and to which the law would apply. In addition to vertebrates and cephalopods (e.g., octopuses), it includes decapods (e.g., lobster). The law creates a committee that will oversee all UK legislation and policies regarding animals to ensure that they take into account their effect on the welfare of animals, given that they are sentient (see UK Passes Its Own Animal Sentience Act After Leaving the EU – WellBeing International (wellbeingintl.org) for further detail).


That animals as sentient beings are capable of experiencing negative affect has become an important basis for progressive animal welfare policies and practices. It is supported by scholarship in ASI’s Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science as well as in several other journals that contribute to animal welfare science (Animal Welfare, Animals, Animal Sentience).  

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*That reputation is partly deserved notwithstanding that the UK is considered the most denatured country in Europe—based on its dearth of wildlife. Recent efforts at rewilding are underway, e.g., restoring beaver populations. 



Author Kenneth Shapiro - President of the Board, Animals and Society Institute. Kenneth Shapiro earned his BA from Harvard University and his PhD in clinical psychology from Duke University. He is cofounder of the Animals and Society Institute. He founded Psychologists for the Ethical treatment of Animals and the Society and Animals Forum. He is founder and editor of Society and Animals: Journal of Human-Animal Studies; cofounder and coeditor of Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science; and editor of the Human-Animal Studies book series. His most recent book is Animal Models of Human Psychology: Critique of Science, Ethics and Policy. He is one of the developers of AniCare® and AniCare® Child, the only psychological treatment models for animal abusers, and trains therapists throughout the country on the use of these models.


ASI MEMBERSHIPS


Are you or do you know someone graduating and interested in pursuing a career in an animal-related field? Members of ASI receive unique benefits and resources that can help them accomplish their goals and excel in a variety of areas involving human and animal interactions. Student and scholar memberships are focused on academic studies, research, and teaching, while the professional membership is targeted more towards those working in animal-related fields outside of an academic setting. 


Become a part of the ASI community by joining as a Scholar, Student or Professional Member to take advantage of member benefits and help us carry on our good work. 


Introducing ASI Member Highlight


ASI is inviting members to share current work, recent publications or any exciting projects that you are involved in so that we can begin highlighting the amazing work of our ASI community members. If you’d like to share your work with us, please feel free to email ivy.collier@animalsandsociety.org with the subject line “Member Highlight”. 


Human-Animal Studies Facebook Group


The ASI-sponsored Facebook group, Human-Animal Studies, is making waves! With close to 3,000 members, this group has become a vibrant and active community which regularly has over ten posts a day from scholars, students, and others interested in Human-Animal Studies. To stay up to speed on what’s going on in HAS the field daily, sign up here.

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