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Staff Profile
Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D.: Making a Case for Kindness
PCRM ethologist Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D., has made a striking
case for moving research away from animal use. In a review study
published late last year in Contemporary Topics in Laboratory
Animal Science, Dr. Balcombe showed that even the slightest
contact with laboratory personnel cause measurable physiological
stress in mice, rabbits, rats, beagles, and other animals used
in experiments.
An interest in and concern for animals was evident in his early
childhood. At nine, he wrote an essay detailing the tribulations
of life for baby salmon.
“I had a natural empathy for them,” Dr. Balcombe says. “If
there’s a gene called ‘fascinated with animals,’ I
was born with it. From my earliest memory, I was exploring the
backyard, gazing at anything that crawled or squirmed.”
Since December 2002, Dr. Balcombe has worked with PCRM, conducting
research and writing about ethical and scientific problems with
animal experiments. In his monthly column for the PCRM Web site, “Beyond
Animal Research,” he’s called for an end to disturbing
and sometimes bizarre animal experiments—from blasting guinea
pigs with ear-shattering noises to study hearing loss, to force-feeding
tree frogs and then launching them through the air to investigate
motion sickness. “Ethical concerns notwithstanding, what
scientific justification could there be for such experiments?” he
wrote in a recent column.
When he’s not working for PCRM, the research scientist finds
time for his hobbies—bicycling, drawing, bird watching, and
playing the piano and organ. And he continues to pursue the writing
career he began at such a young age.
In his new book, Pleasurable Kingdom: Animals and the Nature
of Feeling Good, slated to be published by Macmillan in
2006, Dr. Balcombe makes the case that animals’ lives are
much more than a struggle for survival. After all, other creatures
revel in daily pleasures, just like humans.
And Dr. Balcombe has kept a close eye on humans’ attitudes
toward animals, too. “Without question, the overall trend
in humankind’s awareness toward animals is positive,” he
says.
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