Abstract

Andrew and Clair Linzey’s Animal Ethics for Veterinarians collects numerous recent articles in the Journal of Animal Ethics. It offers readers a diverse set of chapters covering key issues relating to veterinary ethics: animal agriculture, animal research, veterinary oaths, complementary and alternative medicine, animal cruelty, and more. This review article discusses the book’s themes within the larger context of veterinary medicine and veterinary ethics. Compared to existing works in veterinary ethics, the book is less focused on clinical and professional issues and more focused on the ways in which veterinary medicine intersects with fundamental topics in animal ethics. Its contributors challenge veterinarians to rethink traditional stances on the moral status of nonhuman animals and the ethical defensibility of numerous practices with which veterinarians are commonly involved. As the profession has historically been conservative on animal welfare issues, the book is a welcome addition to the literature.