Abstract

Animal ethics broadly refers to ethical theories and to moral and legal practices concerning the relationships that humans ought to have toward animals. It is a growing field that covers many different human activities involving animals mainly at the scientific, industrial, and utilitarian level. Animals are used by science in fundamental research for the development of knowledge in specific domains (i.e., embryology, cytology, genetics, even psychology); in applied research for the resolution of practical problems (i.e., biomedical experimentation); and in healthcare as a clinical resource (i.e., production of specific substances such as insulin or used for xenotransplantation).