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Shira Shmuely

The Bureaucracy of Empathy: Law, Vivisection, and Animal Pain in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain

The Bureaucracy of Empathy: Law, Vivisection, and Animal Pain in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain

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  • More about The Bureaucracy of Empathy: Law, Vivisection, and Animal Pain in Late Nineteenth-Century Britain

The Bureaucracy of Empathy explores the ethical issues of animal pain and the enforcement of the 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act of Parliament, which imposed legal restrictions on animal experimentation and mandated official supervision of procedures calculated to give pain to animal subjects.

Format: Hardback
Length: 270 pages
Publication date: 15 July 2023
Publisher: Cornell University Press


The Bureaucracy of Empathy delves into profound ethical questions surrounding the nature of pain and its impact on nonhuman animals. Shira Shmuely conducts a meticulous exploration of the historical origins, implementation, and enforcement of the 1876 Cruelty to Animals Act of Parliament, which marked a significant milestone by introducing legal restrictions on animal experimentation and mandating official supervision of procedures that cause pain to animal subjects. Through in-depth analysis, Shmuely unravels the complex dynamics between scientists, bureaucrats, and lawyers as they grappled with the challenges of animal pain and its perception. She traces the Act's enforcement, the initial resistance of the medical establishment to regulation, and the eventual embrace of oversight by the medical community. Additionally, she sheds light on the concerns raised by anti-vivisection advocates who believed that the Act provided insufficient protection against animal suffering. Shmuely demonstrates how a bureaucracy of empathy emerged to support and administer the legislation, navigating the complexities of interpreting pain. This pivotal moment in animal law and ethics continues to shape laws regulating the treatment of nonhuman animals in laboratories, farms, and homes worldwide, shaping our understanding and compassion towards these sentient beings.

Weight: 454g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781501770388

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