Within human animal studies (HAS), as well as within the posthumanistic field in general, it has been pointed out that we still lack knowledge of how animals can be recognized as subjects and agents with the possession of cognitive and social abilities. At the same time, we see a re-evaluation of the human anthropocentric boundary between Man and the Beast – in the academic world as well as in the practice of everyday life. One example is how the prevalent ways of relating to and handling with horses – our traditional equine cultures – are under transition. Norms, attitudes and practices – not least those relating to equestrian sports – are changing; some people even believe in a “paradigm shift”, while others predict a future “horse revolution”. This ethnological contribution to the field of HAS aims to study the acknowledgement of the horse as subject, how it is being expressed and practised by egalitarian communities within the Swedish horse society, and what the implications of that acknowledgement are, for both human and horse. Consisting of interviews and participant observations and seen through the lens of a phenomenological HAS-perspective, the empirical material shows that the egalitarian approach implies ethical and practical consequences. Not only does it entail considerations regarding such things as horse keeping, riding style, competitions, training and conditioning methods – for some individuals it may also implicate a personal change, as they discover the horse’s message of presence and authenticity

Animals as Laboratory Objects: Analysis of the Power Discourse PhDr. Tereza Vandrovcová Abstract This dissertation thesis encompasses a critical discourse analysis of the power correlates of expert knowledge and other factors that can hinder the open and unbiased discussion concerning the ethical aspects of the use of nonhuman animals in biomedical experiments. A brief history of "the animal" is first provided before the issue is positioned within the theoretical framework of Animal Studies. The fourth chapter is composed of an overview of the most frequent arguments both for and against the use of animals in biomedicine. The author draws upon her research as she analyzes scientific texts to reveal how laboratory animals are socially constructed as scientific objects and subsequently describes the effects this has on the perception of their moral value. A series of semi-structured interviews with critics and advocates of animal experimentation, such as animal rights activists and laboratory workers who conduct experiments on animals, is the pivotal section of the paper. It is established that lab workers in the sample are convinced of the necessity and legitimacy of current practices, that lab workers have a tendency to suppress animals' individuality when describing their work, that lab workers deem their...

This diploma thesis is inquired into the problematic of anthropocentrism and it' s relationship with the living nature. It is obvious that the anthropocentrism contributed to the current ecological crisis. The author is trying to delimit the definition framework of anthropocentrism and to find it's social, scientific even religious roots and to find the possible ways out of the crisis. The author also presents the key-concepts and theories that are non-anthropocentrically based and that are presenting the possible alternative attitude to the environment connected with the transformation of human values. Concretely it engages James Lovelocks Gaia Theory, Arne Naesses deep ecology and ecosophy or the Fritjof Capras new paradigm. Farther away it also follows the possibility of practical change of our life-concepts and as it's example describes the new concept of voluntary simplicity and New Age.

This thesis examines the existence of posthumanism in the dramas of Ben Jonson, Christopher Marlowe, and William Shakespeare – the three most prominent playwrights of the early modern period. Posthumanist theory, which gives scholars the opportunity to look at past works in a new and unique way, attempts to re-locate the human in the diverse creatures and objects in the world we inhabit. By applying posthumanist theory to older works, we can better understand the early modern period and its writers as well as their relevance to the present. Their plays’ messages serve as warnings that work to guide humanity in the right direction if we are willing to listen. Current events show us the dangers of continuing down the path of our present course. In short, by looking to the past I hope to chart the course of posthumanist interpretation on literature and our own species in the future.

As human populations continue to grow and encroach into wildlife habitats, instances of human-wildlife conflict are on the rise. Increasing numbers of reported wildlife-vehicle collisions (WVCs) provide tangible evidence of anthropogenic impacts on wildlife as well as increasing threats to human health and safety. Increasing WVCs are of particular concern, especially those involving large-bodied ungulates such as moose (Alces spp.), because of the increased risk of property damage, personal injuries, and human fatalities. Motorists directly involved in a WVC are at risk of injury or mortality, but other motorists are also put at risk due to road obstructions and traffic congestion associated with WVCs. Mitigating these impacts on motorists and wildlife requires investigation into the temporal and spatial factors leading to WVCs. In Alaska, most WVCs involve moose (Alces alces), a large bodied ungulate capable of threatening human life when involved in a collision. Each moose-vehicle collision (MVC) in Alaska is estimated to cost $33,000 in damages. With this analysis, I analyzed the plethora of factors contributing to moose and motorist occurrence on the road system and motorist detection based on a historical dataset of MVC reports throughout Alaska from 2000 to 2012 and a dataset of field-derived measurements at MVC locations within the Matanuska-Susitna Borough from 2016 to 2018. My first analysis focused on the daily and annual trends in MVC rates as compared to expected moose and human behavioral patterns with a focus on guiding mitigation strategies. Fifty percent of the MVCs reported between 2000 and 2012 occurred where the commuter rush hours overlapped with dusk and dawn in winter, and the artificial lighting differences between boroughs suggest a link between artificial lighting and reduced MVCs. To focus more specifically on roadside features contributing to MVC risk, I collected and analyzed local and regional scale land cover and road geometry data at reported MVC sites in an area with a rapidly growing human population. I compared these data to similar data collected at random locations near documented MVC sites and at locations where moose that were fitted with global-positioning system (GPS) transmitters crossed highways. I used generalized additive mixed models to delineate which of the variables impacted the risk of both moose road crossings and MVCs. Moose road crossings were influenced by approximations of spatial, seasonal, and daily moose density as well as the proportion of deciduous-coniferous and coniferous forest in the area and the number of possible corridor or land cover types surrounding the site. The best MVC risk model was described by expected seasonal and daily changes in moose density and local scale measurements, including the sinuosity of the road, the height of vegetation near the road, and the angle between the road surface and the roadside. Together this information should guide transportation and urban planners in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough to use roadside vegetation removal, seasonal speed reduction, improved lighting strategies, dynamic signage, or partnerships with mobile mapping services to reactively reduce MVCs and to focus future road planning in areas with lower moose abundance and build roads that increase visibility and detection distances in areas where moose are common.

Although humane education, promoting children's kindness toward animals, has been evaluated as a factor influencing children's kindness toward humans later in their life, the effect of a classroom pet hasn't been well studied. The current study investigated the influence of intensified daily interactions with living animals in the classroom on the development of empathy among Japanese children. Specifically, the study examined (a) the effect of introducing animals into the classroom on children's empathic behaviors and attitudes, and (b) the generalization of this animal-directed empathy to humans.

Syftet med uppsatsen är att undersöka hur djurrättstankar skildras i de två välkända barnböckerna Black Beauty och Charlotte’s Web. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån frågeställningar som fokuserar på hur relationen mellan djur och människa ser ut,hur djurrättstankar kommuniceras i böckerna och vilka likheter/skillnader det finns i behandlingen av djuren i de båda böckerna. Tidigare forskning på djurrättsfrågor i barn- och ungdomslitteratur har haft ett brett perspektiv och fokuserat på hur olika djurrättsfrågor tagits upp i olika skönlitterära exempel. Tidigare forskning av Black Beauty har fokuserat på relationen mellan människa och djur. Den fokuserar på hur den påverkas av speciesism och av att människan dominerar. Tidigare analys av Charlotte’s Web har fokuserat på grisens subjektivitet och hur det är människornas påminnelse av denna som räddar Wilburs liv.I uppsatsen görs en kvalitativ analys där mening försöker hittas i texterna för att få en förståelse av hur djurrätt framställs i böckerna- Uppsatsen gör även en analys av relationen mellan text och bild i Charlotte’s web, samt en komparativ analys mellan de båda verken. Uppsatsen utgår ifrån ett ekokritiskt perspektiv där bland annat begreppet antropomorfisering är relevant. Critical Animal Studies är också en relevant teori för uppsatsen och framförallt begreppet speciesism. Analysen visar på hur djurrättstankarna förmedlas genom hur djuren i böckerna uttrycker sina känslor och att slakt och djurmisshandel problematiseras. Budskapen i verken är att djur vill leva och må bra och att det lönar sig att vara vänlig mot djuren då djuren i böckerna belönar vänlighet med vänskap. Båda böckerna förmedlar också djurens subjektivitet och att djuren har ett eget värde och inte bara ett värde i vad de kan göra för människan.

By the time anti-Jewish Nazi propaganda was widely analogizing Jews to rodents and other nonhuman animals in need of extermination, the accusation that Jewish people might be subhuman, or nonhuman, had been informing non-Jewish perceptions of the Jewish people for hundreds of years. As Jay Geller has detailed, casting Jews as lone wolves, or as rats or mice (and beyond), has a long and powerful history. Indeed, this insidious maneuver—dehumanize a threatening community through animalization in order to justify its oppression, or at times, extermination—is familiar to virtually every marginalized community and absolutely relies on consensus that the “natural” order places human beings above animals. This dissertation argues that post-Holocaust, Jewish American poets help us reconsider the boundaries of “human” and “animal” in the American imagination, ultimately creating an animal poetics that flips the script, demonstrating that yes, we are all animals, which demands not only a human commitment to justice and respect between cultures but also to ecological justice and respect between species. Through examining prominent animal poems by three Jewish American post-Holocaust poets, Gerald Stern, Adrienne Rich, and Maxine Kumin, this dissertation asks, “What does it mean to behave like a Jew when it comes to our ecological connections to other animal species?” and, more specifically, “What is the connection between post-Holocaust Jewish American poets, ecologically informed animal representation, and Jewishness?” My readings model a novel approach to these poets’ work by using Jewish traditions, such as teshuvah (an atonement ritual) and biblical prophecy, to illuminate layers of meaning in the poems that might otherwise have stayed shadowed, particularly for readers without ready access to a Jewish framework. Because these poets’ animal poems are best read as both ecological as well as Jewish, this dissertation makes a case for including animal poems by Stern, Rich, and Kumin in the syllabi and anthologies that represent American ecological literature and ecopoetry—and not just including them, in fact, but contextualizing them within a Jewish framework. All three poets suggest that behaving like a Jew, when it comes to nonhuman animals, means taking responsibility for our brutal humanity as well as our essential animality—which is at least as often noble and good as it is otherwise. By highlighting the value of a Jewish ecocritical lens, this dissertation suggests that there may be as many culturally situated versions of ecocriticism as there are cultures, which could increase our appreciation of our interconnection within and beyond our species. Further, by bringing a Jewish lens to these three Jewish poets’ animal poems, this dissertation situates Jewish animality specifically as a source of strength and wisdom. In so doing, this project defiantly counters millennia of efforts to dehumanize Jewish people, instead reminding that all human beings’ ability to thrive on this earth requires mutual respect between, and within, animal species. Ultimately, this dissertation argues that these Jewish American poets, who came into their adulthood and poetic expressions in the shadow of the Nazi Holocaust, light the way to a Jewish—and human—animal whose survival will not depend on random birthplace but on the dignifying interconnection of all animal species, and all the varieties therein. / English

Animals and social work is an emerging field, and there is a troubling lack of research that has been conducted that attempts to document or explore the experiences of the animals involved in these practices. This dissertation explores the experiences of dogs working alongside social workers, using a mixed methods approach focussing on qualitative data. Data was gathered using critical ethnographic methodology involving interviews with social workers, dog owners and service users. Extensive observational field notes were taken during the use of an emerging research-creation digital method with the dogs and sensor data technologies. This research addresses three questions: (1), How can the experiences of dogs in social work be documented? (2), Why is it important to document these experiences? (3), How are dogs experiencing their involvement in social work practice? (4), What knowledge do the social workers who work with dogs have about involving these animals in social work? The data in this study isanalyzed through a critical post-humanist lens informed by decolonial Indigenous knowledges. Important themes that emerged were interspecies relationships, dog personalities and behaviourswhile working, workplaces and responsibilities, needs and benefits, training, and use of technology in research with OTH animals. Based on the innovative findings of this study, it can be determined that partial experiences of OTH animals involved in social work practice can and should be documented and explored to understand the high levels of responsibility, professionalism, and expectations that working dogs in the field are subject to. / Dissertation / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This dissertation uses a mixed-methods approach to explore the experiences of dogs involved in social work practice. The research addresses four questions: (1), How can the experiences of dogs in social work be documented? (2), Why is it important to document these experiences? (3), How are dogs experiencing their involvement in social work practice? (4), What knowledge do the social workers who work with dogs have about involving these animals in social work? Based on the findings, it can be determined that partial experiences of dogs involved in social work practice can and should be documented and explored to understandthe responsibility, professionalism, and expectations that working dogs are subject to.

The objective of this study was to measure the effects of both a nutritional (water nipple) and social (partner calf) enrichment on calf body weight, grain intake, water intake, behavior and learning. The enrichments included 1) water provided from a nipple vs. a bucket (nutritional) and 2) visual and tactile access to a partner vs. isolated rearing with no visual or tactile access to a partner calf (social). A total of 72 Holstein and Jersey dairy calves were pseudo-randomly distributed into 4 treatments at birth [Individual/Bucket (IB), Paired/Bucket (PB), Individual/Nipple (IN), Paired/Nipple (PN)]. Socially and nutritionally enriched calves drank more water than non-enriched calves (Social: 5.02 ± 0.27 kg/d vs 3.723 ± 0.27 kg/d respectively; P = 0.0009; Nutritional: 4.93 ± 0.27 kg/d vs. 3.81 ± 0.26 kg/d respectively; P = 0.004). No difference in daily grain intake was found between individual or pair reared calves except during wk 8 (1.31 ± 0.07 kg/d vs 1.60 ± 0.07 respectively kg/d; P= 0.04). There were no differences in average body weight among treatments (P > 0.20). Pre-milk delivery, calves reared on a water bucket spent more time standing (P= 0.03) and when paired, less time non-nutritively suckling compared to water nipple reared calves (P = 0.05). Grooming time was highest during period 2 (wk 3, 4, 5; P = 0.01)) pre-milk delivery. Post-milk delivery, calves reared on a water bucket spent more time drinking milk (7.13 ± 0.40 vs 5.37 ± 0.39 min; P = 0.005)and grooming (P= 0.05), and less time drinking water (P < 0.001)and lying (6.17 ± 1.02 vs 9.19 ± 0.97 min, respectively; P= 0.04)than water nipple reared calves. Water nipple calves when paired exhbited longer drinking times (P = 0.04)..The most notable behavior was cross suckling post-milk delivery, as the weeks progressed water bucket reared calves increased time spent cross-suckling while water nipple calves maintained the amount of time spent cross-suckling. At wk 8 a subset of 24 calves (6 from each treatment) were trained over 14-d period to differentiate between an “X” and “O” cue to receive a milk reward (visual discrimination task). Learning (% correct choices) was compared using a Wilcoxon-signed rank test. Calves individually reared had greater overall correct choices than pair reared calves (0.63 ± 0.02 % correct/total choices vs 0.57 ± 0.02 % correct/total choices respectively: P = 0.05), while calves reared with a nutritional enrichment (water nipple) had greater overall correct choices compared to water bucket reared calves (0.64 ± 0.02 % vs 0.56 ± 0.02 %, P = 0.02). These results indicate that social and nutritional enrichments positively influence calf cognitive performance, water intake, and lying, cross-sucking, grooming behaviors.