From the outset of my studies at the University of Exeter I had keenly anticipated my Anthrozoology Residential 2022 attendance. The weekend had finally arrived, although the theme of ‘living and dying with other animals’, had unfortunately turned out to be personally poignant. My beloved rat, Otto, had recently been diagnosed with an incurable illness, culminating in me juggling conference attendance with the responsibility of providing end-of-life care. However, through reflexive thinking (Salzman, 2002), I now see that despite these negative pressures, one talk, Animal love and grief: The role of understanding animals’ emotions in resisting human exceptionalism by Barbara J. King (2022a), particularly contributed to my individual experience, as well as several fundamental aims of the Exeter Anthrozoology as Symbiotic Ethics (EASE) working group (EASE, no date).
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Tag Archives: egomorphism
Emotional Elephants: The Role of Symbiotic Ethics in an Anthropocentric Study
Zoos are widely considered places of societal and environmental importance. While there is ongoing debate regarding the ethics of captivity (e.g., Gruen, 2014; Gray, 2017; DeGrazia, 2011, Donahue and Trump, 2006), most otherthanhuman animals (henceforth animals) who reside in zoos are captive bred (Gray, 2017) and are not viable for release. Therefore, efforts must focus on ensuring they experience the highest standards of care throughout their lives in zoological facilities. Zoo histories have been documented for more than four thousand years (Carr and Cohen, 2011; Mullan and Marvin, 1987; Braverman, 2013; Gray 2017; Norton et al., 2012; Hosey et al., 2009; Grazien, 2015). Over those millennia, the manner in which animals are managed by humans has evolved but the allure of experiencing wild animals in person remains unchanged. In fact, attendance at these cultural trans-species attractions continues to grow, as evidenced by the approximate 700 million visitors to zoos annually (WAZA, 2020; Gray, 2017). Over the course of such visits, zoo users are routinely presented with encounters involving zoo staff and resident animals.
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Anthrozoology as Symbiotic Ethics 