Veterinary Bioethics

Members

Barbara de Mori

Research topic

Critical Reasoning and Decision Making Process in ethics:

Decision-making processes and critical approach to ethical reasoning are of particular interest for applied ethics in general and for animal ethics and bioethics in particular. How these approaches can be applied is investigated since they are the basis for any ethical evaluation process in the different areas of animal ethics and bioethics.

Animal Welfare Ethics:

In the field of animal welfare research, being for food production, medical research, wildlife management and so on, there is a growing interest in the ethical evaluation process. Therefore, it’s also emerging the need to develop specific evaluation tools. Starting with some tools developed in a European context, the research aims to deepen methodologies and potentialities for application in the field of animal welfare as well as to develop further tools. This research line is held under the International Cooperation Agreement between the BCA Department and Colorado State University - USA.

Conservation and Wildlife Ethics and Education:

Within Conservation, the management of wildlife both ex-situ and in-situ poses major ethical problems. The research deals with general fundamentals of the approach that characterizes Conservation Ethics and its specific application within the International Collaboration between the BCA Department and the National Zoological Gardens - South Africa - on the development of a Welfare Index for captive elephants and for other captive wildilife animals. Based on an interdisciplinary research which takes advantage of scientific expertise both within the Department and provided by international partners, the study is in a developing phase that allows to involve also undergraduate students and postgraduate researchers.

Veterinary Medical Ethics:

Veterinary medical ethics is progressively characterized as an autonomous area of study in which it is necessary to investigate the specific issues raised by both professional practice and relationship with animal management. The relevance of ethical tools traditionally available in human medicine to the field of veterinary medicine is being investigated. In a multidisciplinary context, the research on Veterinary Medical Ethics aims to develop the framework and the process of reflection. This research line is also part of the International Cooperation Agreement between the BCA Department and Colorado State University - USA.