Animal Rights: the Debate

In this episode, Martyn and David discuss topical issues in the news which are distinct but also connected - the richness of animals' lives, their cognitive abilities, and sentience; the benefits to neuroscience from studying animals' brains, and the implication this has for animal ethics; our commodification of animals such as dogs and farm animals; and the environmental degradation caused by int...

Richard Ryder has been dubbed the father of animal rights in this country, coining the term 'speciesism' to describe our irrational approach to non-human animals. He has published a dozen books, including, most famously, Victims of Science , described in Parliament at the time as the best-informed reference book on animal experiments. As well as a number of other books on animal rights, he has wri...

Thousands of dogs, monkeys, and other animals are subjected to experiments which cause pain and suffering, all permitted under the law. What is the moral justification for treating sentient beings in this way? And will yet another debate in the House of Commons lead to meaningful progress in ending such research? Join us as we discuss this controversial subject. 

As the oldest animal welfare society in the world, the RSPCA is synonymous with campaigning against cruelty to animals. Founded in 1824 by William Wilberforce and others who had brought about the end of the slave trade, the RSPCA soon became supported by the great and the good, with Queen Victoria its patron. Two hundred years later, we celebrate the RSPCA's achievement in putting cruelty at the h...

Whether it is because of the appalling cruelty inevitable in animal farming, the protection of the environment, or concerns about our health, many people across the world sign up to follow a plant-based diet during January. Is it a steppling stone to a permanent shift in lifestyle, or a short-lived experience? And is the decline in the fortunes of some companies producing vegan alternatives just a...

Millions of animals spend their lives in 'factory farms', before they meet a brutal end in a slaughter house. Apart from its impact on the environment, animal farming raises some fundamental moral issues about the treatment and killing of other sentient beings. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals - PETA - is a world-wide organisation campaigning for a radically different approach to the wa...

The idea that animals have rights has now become mainstream, but what does that mean in practice? Whilst cruelty to animals has long been regarded as unacceptable, is it wrong to kill animals for food, or to cause them suffering in scientific research? In this first episode, we will look at some of the issues that arise from our relationship with other animals, and how it can be unlawful to cause...