{ "name": "Animal Welfare Index", "description": "An annotated library of writing, research, and data on the welfare of sentient animals.", "introduction": "Writing, research, and data on what animals experience, how many are affected, and what could change.", "updated": "2026-10-23", "assessment_scale": { "high": "Reviewed as a particularly strong source for this collection.", "useful": "Reviewed as useful, with narrower depth or scope.", "specialized": "Reviewed as valuable for a narrower question or perspective.", "unrated": "Not yet given an overall editorial rating." }, "entries": [ { "id": "alice-crary", "name": "Animals — Alice Crary", "domain": "politicalconcepts.org", "url": "https://www.politicalconcepts.org/animals-alice-crary/", "annotation": "Crary argues that understanding animals morally requires more than comparing abstract capacities, and examines the institutions that make harms to animals difficult to see.", "evidence_type": "philosophy essays", "access": "Full public HTML observed 2026-08-20", "reuse": "No reuse license found for either essay.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Both essays." }, "references": [ { "label": "The Animal Crisis Is a Human Crisis", "url": "https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-animal-crisis-is-a-human-crisis/" } ], "link_pattern": "article plus related essay", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "Distinctive critique of capacity-based moral status and structural account of animal harm" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Speciesism" ] }, { "id": "andy-masley", "name": "Andy Masley", "domain": "blog.andymasley.com", "url": "https://blog.andymasley.com/", "annotation": "A philosophy blog by Andy Masley covering ethics, animal welfare, quantitative reasoning, and cause prioritization.", "evidence_type": "Substack on custom domain", "access": "Public Substack publication", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "An intro to animal ethics", "url": "https://blog.andymasley.com/p/animal-ethics" }, { "label": "Animal suffering isn't pretend", "url": "https://blog.andymasley.com/p/animal-suffering-isnt-pretend" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "mixed root" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Suffering", "Scale and statistics" ] }, { "id": "stanford-animal-consciousness", "name": "Animal Consciousness", "domain": "plato.stanford.edu", "url": "https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/consciousness-animal/", "annotation": "A scholar-maintained introduction to animal consciousness. 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No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "When veterinarians fail animals", "url": "https://boldreasoningwithpetersinger.substack.com/p/when-veterinarians-fail-animals" }, { "label": "To shrimp or not to shrimp?", "url": "https://boldreasoningwithpetersinger.substack.com/p/debate-to-shrimp-or-not-to-shrimp" }, { "label": "Animal-Friendly AI NOW!", "url": "https://boldreasoningwithpetersinger.substack.com/p/animal-friendly-ai-now" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "mixed root" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Speciesism", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "good-thoughts", "name": "Good Thoughts", "domain": "goodthoughts.blog", "url": "https://www.goodthoughts.blog/", "annotation": "A philosophy blog presenting consequentialist arguments about animal ethics and other questions in moral philosophy.", "evidence_type": "Substack on custom domain", "access": "Public Substack publication", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Review of Animal Liberation Now", "url": "https://www.goodthoughts.blog/p/review-of-animal-liberation-now" }, { "label": "Meat Externalities", "url": "https://www.goodthoughts.blog/p/meat-externalities" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "mixed root" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "josh-milburn", "name": "Josh Milburn", "domain": "josh-milburn.com", "url": "https://josh-milburn.com/publications/", "annotation": "Work spanning animal ethics, cultivated meat, political theory, and duties toward different kinds of animals.", "evidence_type": "scholar website", "access": "Public HTML publications index; linked work includes HTML articles, PDF manuscripts, embargoes, and sign-in-dependent pages. Checked 2026-10-09.", "reuse": "The Virtues of Cultivated Meat is CC BY 4.0. 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No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Distance from suffering in animal ethics", "url": "https://ourexpandingcircle.substack.com/p/distance-from-suffering-in-animal" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "User-reviewed; substantive first-order animal ethics" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Speciesism" ] }, { "id": "moral-law-within", "name": "Moral Law Within", "domain": "morallawwithin.substack.com", "url": "https://morallawwithin.substack.com/", "annotation": "A moral-philosophy newsletter whose case for veganism develops a deontological argument grounded in duties rather than consequences.", "evidence_type": "Substack", "access": "Public HTML, RSS, archive, and sitemap; no GPTBot or Google-Extended block found 2026-08-19", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "A general case for veganism", "url": "https://morallawwithin.substack.com/p/a-general-case-for-veganism" }, { "label": "Non-factory farming is still profoundly wrong", "url": "https://morallawwithin.substack.com/p/non-factory-farming-is-still-profoundly" }, { "label": "How to support animals and still eat meat", "url": "https://morallawwithin.substack.com/p/how-to-support-animals-and-still" } ], "link_pattern": "article highlight", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "mostly broad; article is strong fit" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "new-york-declaration", "name": "New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness", "domain": "nydeclaration.com", "url": "https://sites.google.com/nyu.edu/nydeclaration/", "annotation": "A concise statement of scientific agreement. 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Linked books and publications have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Commentary and essays; linked books and publications have separate terms." }, "references": [ { "label": "The Ethics of Rewilding", "url": "https://www.oxfordanimalethics.com/what-we-do/commentary/the-ethics-of-rewilding/" }, { "label": "Seeing Creatures through God’s Eyes", "url": "https://www.oxfordanimalethics.com/what-we-do/commentary/seeing-creatures-through-gods-eyes/" } ], "link_pattern": "commentary archive plus essays", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused ethics" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Speciesism" ] }, { "id": "sentience-institute", "name": "Sentience Institute", "domain": "sentienceinstitute.org", "url": "https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/research", "annotation": "Research on moral-circle expansion and social change. Its animal-focused work studies how institutions and public attitudes have changed toward farmed animals, and why moral concern reaches some beings while excluding others.", "evidence_type": "Research reports and historical case studies", "access": "Public HTML reports and downloadable data", "reuse": "Viewing only. Republication, public display, commercial use and data mining need permission. Separately published papers have their own terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Viewing only", "evidence_url": "https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/terms", "scope": "Republication, public display, commercial use and data mining need permission. Separately published papers have their own terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Website terms", "url": "https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/terms" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Animals, Food, and Technology survey — reports and data, 2017–2025", "url": "https://www.sentienceinstitute.org/aft-survey" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Speciesism", "Ethics", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "animal-welfare", "name": "Animal Welfare", "domain": "cambridge.org", "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare", "annotation": "Peer-reviewed welfare science with broad species coverage.", "evidence_type": "academic journal", "access": "Full article HTML verified for two current articles on 2026-10-09; older archive access and rights vary.", "reuse": "Authors choose a CC license, sometimes restricting commercial use or adaptations. What do we owe feral animals? is CC BY 4.0; its data license is unverified.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "CC licenses vary", "evidence_url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/information/journal-policies/open-access-options", "scope": "Check each article, including older issues. What do we owe feral animals? is CC BY 4.0; its data license is unverified." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Open-access licensing options", "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/information/journal-policies/open-access-options" } ], "references": [ { "label": "What do we owe feral animals?", "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/animal-welfare/article/what-do-we-owe-feral-animals/DD49DAAA0F565C1D3633C3AC2A9F6E62" } ], "link_pattern": "journal root plus open articles", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused open scholarship for current articles" }, "tags": [ "Welfare measurement", "Suffering", "Positive welfare" ] }, { "id": "frontiers-in-veterinary-science-animal-behavior-and-welfare", "name": "Frontiers in Veterinary Science — Animal Behavior and Welfare", "domain": "frontiersin.org", "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/sections/animal-behavior-and-welfare", "annotation": "Large peer-reviewed open-access section with species-specific empirical work.", "evidence_type": "open-access journal section", "access": "Public HTML/PDF; confirm per article.", "reuse": "Journal articles are CC BY. Credit the authors; check separately credited images and other material.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "Articles: CC BY", "evidence_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/about#copyright-statement", "scope": "Attribution required. Separately credited images and other material may have different terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Journal copyright statement", "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/about#copyright-statement" } ], "references": [ { "label": "The welfare of farmed Nile tilapia — husbandry review (2025)", "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12089788/" } ], "link_pattern": "section root plus selected review", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused open scholarship" }, "tags": [ "Welfare measurement", "Positive welfare" ] }, { "id": "massey-animal-welfare-science-and-bioethics-centre", "name": "Massey Animal Welfare Science and Bioethics Centre", "domain": "massey.ac.nz", "url": "https://www.massey.ac.nz/research/research-centres/animal-welfare-science-and-bioethics-centre/", "annotation": "The institutional home of the Five Domains Model and research linking animals' physical conditions to their mental experiences.", "evidence_type": "academic research centre", "access": "Public institutional HTML and repository article observed 2026-08-20", "reuse": "The highlighted paper is CC BY 4.0. The centre reserves website rights; other publications have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "One paper: CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://mro.massey.ac.nz/items/971a640e-1752-495f-b821-7e2e44704b17", "scope": "Highlighted paper only. The website reserves rights; other publications have separate terms." }, "references": [ { "label": "The agency domain and behavioral interactions: assessing positive animal welfare using the Five Domains Model", "url": "https://mro.massey.ac.nz/items/971a640e-1752-495f-b821-7e2e44704b17" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "foundational welfare framework" }, "tags": [ "Welfare measurement", "Positive welfare", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "our-world-in-data", "name": "Animal Welfare at Our World in Data", "domain": "ourworldindata.org", "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/animal-welfare", "annotation": "Our World in Data gathers writing, charts, and downloadable data on slaughter, factory farming, housing systems, aquatic animals, pain, and public attitudes.", "evidence_type": "Topic synthesis, articles, charts, and datasets", "access": "Public HTML, downloadable CSV and JSON, chart API", "reuse": "OWID's own writing, charts and data are CC BY 4.0 unless noted otherwise. Third-party data have separate terms; the FAQ adds republication conditions.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "Own work: CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://ourworldindata.org/faqs", "scope": "OWID's writing, charts and data, unless noted otherwise. Third-party data have separate terms; the FAQ adds republication conditions." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Reuse and republication FAQ", "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/faqs" } ], "references": [ { "label": "How many animals are slaughtered every day?", "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-animals-get-slaughtered-every-day" }, { "label": "How many animals are factory-farmed?", "url": "https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-animals-are-factory-farmed" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Scale and statistics", "Farmed animals", "Aquatic animals" ] }, { "id": "fao", "name": "FAOSTAT and fisheries statistics", "domain": "fao.org", "url": "https://www.fao.org/faostat/en/#data", "annotation": "The primary international source for country-reported livestock, slaughter, fisheries, and aquaculture statistics. Many later estimates begin with FAO records, including attempts to convert aquatic-animal tonnage into individual animals.", "evidence_type": "Official international statistics", "access": "FAOSTAT front end is JavaScript-dependent; public JSON dataset manifest and ZIP/CSV exports verified 2026-10-09.", "reuse": "Datasets default to CC BY 4.0. FAO also restricts re-identification, misrepresentation, implied endorsement and promotional commercial use. Check dataset exceptions; website content has separate terms.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "Data: CC BY 4.0 + FAO terms", "evidence_url": "https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/", "scope": "Datasets only, subject to exceptions. FAO also restricts re-identification, misrepresentation, implied endorsement and promotional commercial use." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Statistical database terms", "url": "https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/db-terms-of-use/en/" }, { "label": "General FAO terms", "url": "https://www.fao.org/contact-us/terms/en/" } ], "references": [ { "label": "FAOSTAT bulk-download manifest (JSON)", "url": "https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/datasets_E.json" }, { "label": "Crops and livestock production (CSV ZIP)", "url": "https://bulks-faostat.fao.org/production/Production_Crops_Livestock_E_All_Data_(Normalized).zip" }, { "label": "Global fisheries and aquaculture production, 2026 release (CSV ZIP)", "url": "https://www.fao.org/fishery/static/Data/GlobalProduction_2026.1.0.zip" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Scale and statistics", "Farmed animals", "Aquatic animals" ] }, { "id": "ace-research-database", "name": "Animal Charity Evaluators — Research Database", "domain": "research-database.animalcharityevaluators.org", "url": "https://research-database.animalcharityevaluators.org/", "annotation": "A searchable collection of studies, reviews, reports, and theoretical work relevant to farmed and wild animal advocacy. ACE reviews sources for relevance, not to endorse their findings. Entries link to the original research, with abstracts where available; some full texts are paywalled. This replaces ACE's older Research Library.", "evidence_type": "research database", "access": "Public search and paper records; full-text access varies by source.", "reuse": "No reuse license verified for database text or abstracts. Linked works have their own terms.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "Reuse terms not verified", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Database text and abstracts. Linked works have their own terms." }, "references": [ { "label": "Scope, inclusion process, and limitations", "url": "https://research-database.animalcharityevaluators.org/about" } ], "assessment": { "value": "useful", "notes": "Broad discovery collection, not a quality endorsement or full-text mirror. Complements this index without replacing its coverage of ethics, companion animals, or laboratory-animal welfare." }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Wild animals", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "faunalytics", "name": "Faunalytics research library", "domain": "faunalytics.org", "url": "https://faunalytics.org/?s=&post_type=post&orderby=post_date&order=desc&explore=true", "annotation": "A large, continually updated collection of research summaries and original studies. It spans animals used for food and science, wild and companion animals, public attitudes, and the effectiveness of attempts to help animals.", "evidence_type": "Research library and original studies", "access": "Public searchable HTML", "reuse": "Internal noncommercial use only; redistribution and adaptations need permission. AI crawling and indexing are welcomed, but training permission is unstated. Original studies have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Internal noncommercial use", "evidence_url": "https://faunalytics.org/terms-of-use/", "scope": "Redistribution and adaptations need permission. AI indexing is welcomed, but training permission is unstated. Original studies have separate terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Terms of use", "url": "https://faunalytics.org/terms-of-use/" }, { "label": "AI usage policy", "url": "https://faunalytics.org/faunalytics-ai-usage-policy/" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Fundamentals", "url": "https://faunalytics.org/fundamentals/" }, { "label": "Faunalytics studies", "url": "https://faunalytics.org/research/" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Wild animals", "Speciesism" ] }, { "id": "coefficient-giving-farm-animal-welfare-newsletter", "name": "Farm Animal Welfare newsletter", "domain": "farmanimalwelfare.substack.com", "url": "https://farmanimalwelfare.substack.com/", "annotation": "Lewis Bollard's continuously updated account of farmed-animal welfare research, funding, and policy.", "evidence_type": "Substack", "access": "Public HTML, RSS, archive, and sitemap; no GPTBot or Google-Extended block found 2026-08-19", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "The protein problem", "url": "https://farmanimalwelfare.substack.com/p/the-protein-problem" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Economics", "Law" ] }, { "id": "inside-animal-ag", "name": "Inside Animal Ag", "domain": "insideanimalag.org", "url": "https://insideanimalag.org/", "annotation": "A research-based guide to the structure and effects of U.S. factory farming. 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Linked material has separate terms.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "Free reuse of own writing", "evidence_url": "https://insideanimalag.org/about-this-site/", "scope": "Linked reports, images and data have separate terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Using the site", "url": "https://insideanimalag.org/about-this-site/" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Content guide", "url": "https://insideanimalag.org/content-guide/" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "marina-bolotnikova", "name": "Marina Bolotnikova", "domain": "mbolotnikova.substack.com", "url": "https://mbolotnikova.substack.com/", "annotation": "Independent reporting and analysis on animal welfare, factory farming, and public policy.", "evidence_type": "Substack", "access": "Public Substack publication", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. No separate author license found; her reporting elsewhere has separate terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No author license found; her reporting elsewhere has separate terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [], "link_pattern": "root plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "mixed root" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Ethics", "Law" ] }, { "id": "open-philanthropy-farm-animal-welfare", "name": "Coefficient Giving — Farm Animal Welfare", "domain": "coefficientgiving.org", "url": "https://coefficientgiving.org/funds/farm-animal-welfare/", "annotation": "Grant rationales and strategy documents explain the evidence, assumptions, and uncertainties behind farmed-animal welfare funding decisions.", "evidence_type": "philanthropic research site", "access": "Public section HTML with research, case studies, and a filterable grants list", "reuse": "The Urban Institute report may be copied with credit. No reuse license found for other Coefficient Giving content.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "One report: copying with credit", "evidence_url": "https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/Case-study-on-the-farm-animal-welfare-movements-corporate-campaigns-final-1.pdf", "scope": "The Urban Institute report only. No reuse license found for other Coefficient Giving content." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Urban Institute terms", "url": "https://www.urban.org/terms-service" } ], "references": [ { "label": "A case study on corporate campaigns for farm animal welfare", "url": "https://coefficientgiving.org/research/a-case-study-on-corporate-campaigns-for-farm-animal-welfare/" }, { "label": "Urban Institute full report (PDF)", "url": "https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2025-08/Case-study-on-the-farm-animal-welfare-movements-corporate-campaigns-final-1.pdf" } ], "link_pattern": "section root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused section on broad root" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Economics" ] }, { "id": "rspca-welfare-standards", "name": "RSPCA Welfare Standards", "domain": "science.rspca.org.uk", "url": "https://science.rspca.org.uk/sciencegroup/farmanimals/standards", "annotation": "Detailed species-specific welfare standards, including standards for farmed fish.", "evidence_type": "nonprofit standards", "access": "HTML index with downloadable full-text PDF standards and scientific justifications; sample salmon and hen documents returned 200 on 2026-10-09.", "reuse": "The salmon standards require written permission. Website terms allow limited personal-study extracts.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Permission required", "evidence_url": "https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/termsandconditions/copyrightandtrademarks", "scope": "Salmon standards require written permission. Website terms allow limited personal-study extracts." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Copyright and trademarks", "url": "https://www.rspca.org.uk/utilities/termsandconditions/copyrightandtrademarks" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Farmed Atlantic salmon standards (PDF)", "url": "https://science.rspca.org.uk/documents/d/science/rspca_welfare_standards_for_farmed_atlantic_salmon" }, { "label": "Scientific justifications for salmon standards (PDF)", "url": "https://science.rspca.org.uk/documents/d/science/salmon-standards-justification-2024" } ], "link_pattern": "section root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused standards source" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Aquatic animals", "Positive welfare" ] }, { "id": "sentient-media", "name": "Sentient Media", "domain": "sentientmedia.org", "url": "https://sentientmedia.org/", "annotation": "Independent reporting and explainers on factory farming, fisheries, animal welfare, food systems, climate, health, and policy. It combines current investigations with accessible background pieces on how animal industries operate.", "evidence_type": "Independent journalism and explainers", "access": "Public HTML without an account or paywall; ordinary article crawling is allowed by robots.txt.", "reuse": "Personal noncommercial downloads and printouts allowed. Republication, caching or systematic collection needs written permission.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Personal noncommercial use", "evidence_url": "https://sentientmedia.org/terms-of-use/", "scope": "Downloads and printouts allowed. Republication, caching or systematic collection needs written permission." }, "references": [], "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Terms of use", "url": "https://sentientmedia.org/terms-of-use/" }, { "label": "Republishing guidelines", "url": "https://sentientmedia.org/republishing-guidelines/" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Aquatic animals", "Law" ] }, { "id": "welfare-footprint", "name": "Welfare Footprint Institute", "domain": "welfarefootprint.org", "url": "https://welfarefootprint.org/", "annotation": "A framework for comparing welfare through the intensity and duration of negative experiences and the number of animals affected. Its applied studies estimate cumulative time spent in pain under different production systems.", "evidence_type": "Quantitative welfare framework and applied research", "access": "Public HTML papers and reports", "reuse": "Institute-produced reports, data and charts are CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise stated. Credit the Institute and named authors.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://welfarefootprint.org/", "scope": "Institute-produced reports, data and charts, unless otherwise stated. Credit the Institute and named authors." }, "references": [ { "label": "Welfare Footprint Framework", "url": "https://welfarefootprint.org/framework" }, { "label": "Technical definitions (including Pain-Track)", "url": "https://welfarefootprint.org/technical-definitions" }, { "label": "Laying hen mortality in different indoor housing systems: a meta-analysis", "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7862694/" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Welfare measurement", "Suffering", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "animal-welfare-observatory", "name": "Animal Welfare Observatory", "domain": "animalwelfareobservatory.org", "url": "https://animalwelfareobservatory.org/nuestro-trabajo/bienestar-acuicultura/", "annotation": "Research and reporting on stocking density, disease, behavior, transport, stunning, and slaughter in fish and shrimp farming.", "evidence_type": "research/advocacy nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML and browsable subject filters", "reuse": "Private viewing and copying allowed. Republishing, adaptations or commercial use require permission.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Personal use only", "evidence_url": "https://animalwelfareobservatory.org/aviso-legal/", "scope": "Private viewing and copying allowed. Republishing, adaptations or commercial use require permission." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Legal notice", "url": "https://animalwelfareobservatory.org/aviso-legal/" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Shrimp welfare", "url": "https://animalwelfareobservatory.org/nuestro-trabajo/bienestar-langostinos/" } ], "link_pattern": "aquaculture section plus highlights", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused blog; bilingual" }, "tags": [ "Aquatic animals", "Farmed animals", "Law" ] }, { "id": "aquatic-life-institute", "name": "Aquatic Life Institute", "domain": "ali.fish", "url": "https://www.ali.fish/resource-library", "annotation": "Cross-species aquatic-welfare work covering standards, policy, and industry systems.", "evidence_type": "nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML", "reuse": "No sitewide reuse license found. Check each report's terms.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Check each report's terms." }, "references": [], "link_pattern": "resource library", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused aquatic" }, "tags": [ "Aquatic animals", "Farmed animals", "Law" ] }, { "id": "crustacean-compassion", "name": "Crustacean Compassion", "domain": "crustaceancompassion.org", "url": "https://www.crustaceancompassion.org/research-and-publications", "annotation": "Evidence and policy material on lobsters, crabs, prawns, and other decapod crustaceans.", "evidence_type": "nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML and downloadable resources observed 2026-08-20", "reuse": "No reuse license found for the website or Sea to Plate report.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Website and Sea to Plate report." }, "references": [ { "label": "Sea to Plate welfare report", "url": "https://www.crustaceancompassion.org/sea-to-plate-welfare-report" } ], "link_pattern": "research archive plus reports", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused aquatic source" }, "tags": [ "Invertebrates", "Aquatic animals", "Sentience", "Law" ] }, { "id": "fish-welfare-initiative", "name": "Fish Welfare Initiative", "domain": "fishwelfareinitiative.org", "url": "https://www.fishwelfareinitiative.org/", "annotation": "Fish Welfare Initiative publishes research and field reports from programs designed to improve welfare in aquaculture.", "evidence_type": "nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML and sitemap", "reuse": "Homepage allows free use of information and images; terms restrict republication, commercial use and data mining. Permission is unclear.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "Conflicting reuse terms", "evidence_url": "https://www.fishwelfareinitiative.org/privacy", "scope": "Homepage allows free use of information and images; terms restrict republication, commercial use and data mining. Permission is unclear." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Terms and Conditions", "url": "https://www.fishwelfareinitiative.org/privacy" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Blog", "url": "https://www.fishwelfareinitiative.org/blog" }, { "label": "Research and development", "url": "https://www.fishwelfareinitiative.org/blog/tags/r-d" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused aquatic" }, "tags": [ "Aquatic animals", "Farmed animals", "Welfare measurement" ] }, { "id": "fishcount", "name": "Fishcount", "domain": "fishcount.org.uk", "url": "https://fishcount.org.uk/", "annotation": "Fishcount estimates the numbers of individual fish caught from the wild and produced in aquaculture. It converts tonnage into animal counts and documents welfare problems during capture, transport, and slaughter.", "evidence_type": "Modeled estimates and welfare research", "access": "Public HTML reports, tables, and downloadable documents", "reuse": "The 2023 farmed-fish estimates paper is CC BY 4.0. No reuse license found for the site's tables, spreadsheets, photos or older reports.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "One paper: CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://doi.org/10.1017/awf.2023.4", "scope": "The 2023 farmed-fish estimates paper only. No license found for website text, tables, spreadsheets, photos or older reports." }, "references": [ { "label": "Wild-caught fish estimates", "url": "https://fishcount.org.uk/fish-count-estimates-2/numbers-of-fish-caught-from-the-wild-each-year" }, { "label": "Farmed fish estimates", "url": "https://fishcount.org.uk/fish-count-estimates-2/numbers-of-farmed-fish-slaughtered-each-year" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Aquatic animals", "Scale and statistics", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "insect-welfare-research-society", "name": "Insect Welfare Research Society", "domain": "insectwelfare.com", "url": "https://www.insectwelfare.com/research-library", "annotation": "Scientific resources on insect sentience, farming, and welfare methods, including research guidelines and a Zotero bibliography covering insects and other neglected invertebrates. Also selected here: a separate SEI report critically examining insect farming in high-income countries, including welfare risks and what insect protein replaces.", "evidence_type": "research society", "access": "Public HTML; no AI-specific block or sitewide CC notice found 2026-08-19.", "reuse": "No reuse license found for the website or guidelines. Linked works have separate terms; the SEI report text is CC BY 4.0, excluding its Getty cover photo.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Website and guidelines. Linked works have separate terms; the SEI report text is CC BY 4.0, excluding its Getty cover photo." }, "references": [ { "label": "Insect welfare research library on Zotero", "url": "https://www.zotero.org/groups/4992895/insectwelfare/library" }, { "label": "Research guidelines", "url": "https://www.insectwelfare.com/research-guidelines" }, { "label": "External resources", "url": "https://www.insectwelfare.com/non-iwrs-resources" }, { "label": "Related SEI report: Rethinking insects as alternative protein (2026)", "url": "https://www.sei.org/publications/rethinking-insects-as-alternative-protein-emerging-environmental-and-animal-welfare-considerations/" }, { "label": "Rethinking insects as alternative protein — full report (PDF)", "url": "https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/rethinking-insect-farming.pdf" } ], "link_pattern": "research library plus guidelines", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused invertebrates" }, "tags": [ "Invertebrates", "Sentience", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "rethink-priorities-animal-welfare", "name": "Rethink Priorities — Animal Welfare", "domain": "rethinkpriorities.org", "url": "https://rethinkpriorities.org/our-research-areas/animal-welfare/", "annotation": "Original research on welfare measurement, moral weights, and the welfare of farmed fish, shrimp, insects, and other invertebrates.", "evidence_type": "research nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML and sitemap; no AI-specific block or sitewide CC notice found 2026-08-19.", "reuse": "No sitewide reuse license found. Reports and cross-posts may have separate licenses.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Website reports; cross-posts may have separate licenses." }, "references": [ { "label": "Insects raised for food and feed (2020 report)", "url": "https://rethinkpriorities.org/research-area/insects-raised-for-food-and-feed/" }, { "label": "Understanding welfare capacities", "url": "https://rethinkpriorities.org/impact-area/broadening-our-moral-circles-understanding-welfare-capacities/" } ], "link_pattern": "section root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused section" }, "tags": [ "Welfare measurement", "Invertebrates", "Sentience", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "shrimp-welfare-project", "name": "Shrimp Welfare Project", "domain": "shrimpwelfareproject.org", "url": "https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/research", "annotation": "Research and field reports on improving farmed-shrimp welfare through electrical stunning and work with producers and retailers.", "evidence_type": "nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML and sitemap; no AI-specific block or sitewide CC notice found 2026-08-19.", "reuse": "Viewing only. Republication, public display, commercial use and data mining need permission. Downloadable reports may have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Viewing only", "evidence_url": "https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/terms-conditions-privacy-policy", "scope": "Republication, public display, commercial use and data mining need permission. Downloadable reports may have separate terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Terms and conditions", "url": "https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/terms-conditions-privacy-policy" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Shrimp welfare report", "url": "https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/shrimp-welfare-report" }, { "label": "Humane stunning white paper", "url": "https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/humane-stunning-white-paper" }, { "label": "Shrimp welfare index", "url": "https://www.shrimpwelfareproject.org/shrimp-welfare-index" } ], "link_pattern": "research archive plus reports", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused aquatic/invertebrates" }, "tags": [ "Invertebrates", "Aquatic animals", "Farmed animals", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "bentham-s-newsletter", "name": "Bentham's Newsletter", "domain": "benthams.substack.com", "url": "https://benthams.substack.com/", "annotation": "Essays by Bentham's Bulldog on factory farming, insect and shrimp welfare, wild-animal suffering, and arguments for taking animal interests seriously.", "evidence_type": "Substack", "access": "Public HTML, RSS, archive, and sitemap; no GPTBot or Google-Extended block found 2026-08-19", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. No separate author license found.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Substack terms", "evidence_url": "https://substack.com/tos", "scope": "Scraping and substantial copying or storage prohibited. No separate author license found." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Substack terms", "url": "https://substack.com/tos" } ], "references": [ { "label": "The core benthams bulldog reader", "url": "https://benthams.substack.com/p/the-core-benthams-bulldog-reader" }, { "label": "The bone chilling evil of factory", "url": "https://benthams.substack.com/p/the-bone-chilling-evil-of-factory" }, { "label": "Insect suffering is the biggest issue", "url": "https://benthams.substack.com/p/insect-suffering-is-the-biggest-issue" }, { "label": "Most animals have bad lives", "url": "https://benthams.substack.com/p/most-animals-have-bad-lives" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus reader map", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "mixed root with excellent map" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Wild animals", "Invertebrates", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "wild-animal-initiative", "name": "Wild Animal Initiative", "domain": "wildanimalinitiative.org", "url": "https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/research", "annotation": "A research organization focused on the welfare of free-living animals. Its work develops field methods, reviews welfare-relevant ecology, maps research priorities, and supports the growth of wild-animal welfare science.", "evidence_type": "Research program, reviews, and field methods", "access": "Public HTML research library and papers", "reuse": "Capturing wild animal welfare is CC BY-NC-ND 4.0: noncommercial sharing, no adaptations. Other papers vary; no sitewide license found.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "Licenses vary", "evidence_url": "https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/brv.13009", "scope": "Capturing wild animal welfare: CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (noncommercial sharing, no adaptations). Other papers vary; no sitewide license found." }, "references": [ { "label": "Research library", "url": "https://www.wildanimalinitiative.org/library" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Wild animals", "Welfare measurement", "Positive welfare" ] }, { "id": "wild-animal-welfare-committee", "name": "Wild Animal Welfare Committee", "domain": "wawcommittee.org", "url": "https://www.wawcommittee.org/", "annotation": "An independent UK committee examining the welfare of free-living animals affected by human activity. Its publications show how welfare evidence can change decisions about wildlife management, conservation, conflict, and population control.", "evidence_type": "Independent expert analysis and policy advice", "access": "Public HTML news and commentary; formal resources are primarily PDFs. Checked 2026-10-09.", "reuse": "Workshop slides and images require permission. No sitewide reuse license found; other publications have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "Licenses vary", "evidence_url": "https://www.wawcommittee.org/resources", "scope": "Workshop slides and images require permission. No sitewide license found; other publications have separate terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Workshop copyright notice", "url": "https://www.wawcommittee.org/resources" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Welfare needs to be part of sustainable fishing", "url": "https://www.wawcommittee.org/news/welfare-needs-to-be-part-of-sustainable-fishing" }, { "label": "News and commentary", "url": "https://www.wawcommittee.org/news" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Wild animals", "Welfare measurement", "Law" ] }, { "id": "avma-animal-welfare", "name": "AVMA Animal Welfare", "domain": "avma.org", "url": "https://www.avma.org/resources-tools/animal-health-and-welfare/animal-welfare", "annotation": "Veterinary guidelines and policy on welfare, humane endings, and the care of companion and other animals.", "evidence_type": "professional association", "access": "Public HTML and policy documents observed 2026-08-20", "reuse": "Personal noncommercial use only. Broader copying, redistribution, adaptations or database inclusion require permission. Journal reprints have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Personal noncommercial use", "evidence_url": "https://www.avma.org/terms-use", "scope": "Broader copying, redistribution, adaptations or database inclusion require permission. Journal reprints have separate terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Terms of use", "url": "https://www.avma.org/terms-use" } ], "references": [], "link_pattern": "section root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "authoritative veterinary source" }, "tags": [ "Companion animals", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "eu-alures", "name": "EU Animals in Science and ALURES", "domain": "environment.ec.europa.eu", "url": "https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/chemicals/animals-science/statistics-and-non-technical-project-summaries_en", "annotation": "The European Commission’s transparency system for animals used in scientific procedures. It reports species, numbers, purposes, origins, genetic status, and the severity assigned to procedures across EU member states and Norway.", "evidence_type": "Official regional statistics and project records", "access": "Public HTML and direct CSV exports verified 2026-10-09, including species/severity statistics and narrative project summaries.", "reuse": "EU-owned page content is CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise stated. ALURES records and third-party material may have different terms.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "EU text: CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://commission.europa.eu/legal-notice_en", "scope": "EU-owned pages unless otherwise stated. ALURES records and third-party material may have different terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Commission legal notice", "url": "https://commission.europa.eu/legal-notice_en" } ], "references": [ { "label": "ALURES dataset export", "url": "https://environmental-data.ec.europa.eu/alures/datasets.html" }, { "label": "Animal-use and severity statistics (CSV)", "url": "https://publicstorage.data.env.service.ec.europa.eu/alures/export/statistics/alures_statistics_data_published.csv" }, { "label": "Project summaries, harms, and refinements (CSV)", "url": "https://publicstorage.data.env.service.ec.europa.eu/alures/export/nts/alures_nts_projects.csv" } ], "assessment": { "value": "high" }, "tags": [ "Animal research", "Scale and statistics", "Suffering" ] }, { "id": "eurl-ecvam", "name": "EURL ECVAM", "domain": "joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu", "url": "https://joint-research-centre.ec.europa.eu/scientific-activities/reference-and-measurement/european-union-reference-laboratories/eu-reference-laboratory-alternatives-animal-testing-eurl-ecvam_en", "annotation": "The European Union reference laboratory for validating non-animal methods and reducing animal testing.", "evidence_type": "government laboratory", "access": "Public European Commission HTML and reports observed 2026-08-20", "reuse": "EU-owned pages are CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise stated. Check each report's license; the highlighted report's license is unverified.", "license": { "status": "mixed", "label": "EU text: CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://commission.europa.eu/legal-notice_en", "scope": "EU-owned pages unless otherwise stated. Check each report's license; the highlighted report's license is unverified." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Commission legal notice", "url": "https://commission.europa.eu/legal-notice_en" } ], "references": [ { "label": "2025 status report", "url": "https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC145459" } ], "link_pattern": "section root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "authoritative alternatives source" }, "tags": [ "Animal research", "Law" ] }, { "id": "nc3rs", "name": "NC3Rs", "domain": "nc3rs.org.uk", "url": "https://nc3rs.org.uk/3rs-resources", "annotation": "Extensive practical and research material on replacing, reducing, and refining animal use in science.", "evidence_type": "research nonprofit", "access": "Server-rendered practical HTML guidance, with some PDF posters; sample pages returned 200 with a browser user agent on 2026-10-09.", "reuse": "Personal copies and sharing for personal use require credit. Graphics need written permission; journal articles have separate licenses.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Personal use only", "evidence_url": "https://nc3rs.org.uk/terms-and-conditions", "scope": "Credit required for personal copies and sharing. Graphics need written permission; journal articles have separate licenses." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Terms and conditions", "url": "https://nc3rs.org.uk/terms-and-conditions" } ], "references": [ { "label": "Grimace scales for recognizing pain", "url": "https://nc3rs.org.uk/3rs-resources/grimace-scales" } ], "link_pattern": "resource library", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "authoritative 3Rs source" }, "tags": [ "Animal research", "Welfare measurement" ] }, { "id": "prepare-guidelines", "name": "PREPARE Guidelines", "domain": "norecopa.no", "url": "https://norecopa.no/prepare", "annotation": "Detailed planning guidance for animal experiments covering welfare, design, facilities, and reproducibility.", "evidence_type": "research guidelines", "access": "Public HTML topic guidance and checklist verified 2026-10-09; PDFs also available.", "reuse": "Norecopa's website material is CC BY 4.0 unless otherwise stated. Linked third-party works have separate terms.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://norecopa.no/prepare", "scope": "Norecopa's website material, unless otherwise stated. Linked third-party works have separate terms." }, "references": [ { "label": "PREPARE checklist", "url": "https://norecopa.no/prepare/prepare-checklist" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused methods source" }, "tags": [ "Animal research", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "animal-legal-historical-center", "name": "Animal Legal & Historical Center", "domain": "animallaw.info", "url": "https://www.animallaw.info/", "annotation": "A deep legal reference database with species- and issue-specific collections.", "evidence_type": "university legal database", "access": "Substantive HTML cases, statutes, and topical explanations; sampled fish-farm explainer and statute returned 200 on 2026-10-09. Some journal articles are PDF-only.", "reuse": "No general reuse license found. Laws and judgments may have different copyright status from commentary, summaries, journal articles and Westlaw material.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Commentary, summaries and journal articles. Laws and judgments may have different copyright status; Westlaw material has separate rights." }, "references": [], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused legal reference" }, "tags": [ "Law", "Companion animals", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "nonhuman-rights-project", "name": "Nonhuman Rights Project", "domain": "nonhumanrights.org", "url": "https://www.nonhumanrights.org/", "annotation": "Essays, case histories, and legal arguments about nonhuman personhood, liberty, and the treatment of captive animals.", "evidence_type": "legal nonprofit", "access": "Public HTML and case documents observed 2026-08-20", "reuse": "Website text and photos: all rights reserved. Court documents may have different terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "All rights reserved", "evidence_url": "https://www.nonhumanrights.org/", "scope": "Website text and photos. Court documents may have different terms." }, "references": [ { "label": "Blog", "url": "https://www.nonhumanrights.org/blog/" }, { "label": "Tommy's case", "url": "https://www.nonhumanrights.org/client/tommy/" } ], "link_pattern": "root plus blog and cases", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused legal source" }, "tags": [ "Law", "Ethics", "Sentience" ] }, { "id": "better-life-better-world", "name": "Better Life, Better World", "domain": "mattball.substack.com", "url": "https://mattball.substack.com/", "annotation": "Matt Ball writes about pragmatic animal advocacy, veganism, practical ethics, and lessons from the movement's history.", "evidence_type": "Substack", "access": "Public Substack publication", "reuse": "Substack prohibits scraping and substantial copying or storage. 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External publications may have separate licenses.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "All rights reserved", "evidence_url": "https://centerforreducingsuffering.org/", "scope": "Website text, including blog posts. External publications may have separate licenses." }, "references": [ { "label": "Blog", "url": "https://centerforreducingsuffering.org/blog/" }, { "label": "Five questions about wild animal suffering", "url": "https://centerforreducingsuffering.org/five-questions-about-wild-animal-suffering/" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "focused ethics/future" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Suffering", "Wild animals", "Future welfare" ] }, { "id": "jeff-sebo", "name": "Jeff Sebo", "domain": "jeffsebo.net", "url": "https://jeffsebo.net/research/", "annotation": "Work on animals, moral status, global health, and how emerging technologies may affect nonhuman beings.", "evidence_type": "scholar website", "access": "Research index with substantive HTML summaries and mixed HTML/PDF papers; direct orb index requests can return 403. 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Website and syllabi: no reuse license found." }, "references": [ { "label": "Everything and nothing is conscious: default assumptions in science and ethics", "url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2025.1700354/full" }, { "label": "Wild Animal Welfare in Local Policies", "url": "https://guarinicenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Wild-Animal-Welfare-in-Local-Policies-Policy-Brief.pdf" }, { "label": "Animals and Climate Change (course syllabus)", "url": "https://jeffsebo.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/animals-and-climate-change.pdf" }, { "label": "Animals and Public Health (course syllabus)", "url": "https://jeffsebo.net/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/animals-and-public-health-ethics.pdf" } ], "link_pattern": "research index, papers and course syllabi", "assessment": { "value": "unrated", "notes": "scholar website" }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Sentience", "Future welfare" ] }, { "id": "hedweb", "name": "The Hedonistic Imperative", "domain": "hedweb.com", "url": "https://www.hedweb.com/", "annotation": "David Pearce’s long-running argument that biotechnology could eventually replace suffering with gradients of well-being in humans and nonhuman animals. 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Book licenses remain unverified.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Website essays; book licenses unverified." }, "references": [ { "label": "The Abolitionist Project", "url": "https://www.hedweb.com/abolitionist-project/index.html" } ], "assessment": { "value": "specialized" }, "tags": [ "Suffering", "Future welfare", "Positive welfare", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "reducing-suffering", "name": "Essays on Reducing Suffering", "domain": "reducing-suffering.org", "url": "https://reducing-suffering.org/", "annotation": "Brian Tomasik's long-running essays on suffering-focused ethics, wild-animal suffering, insects, animal agriculture, and the moral weight of different minds.", "evidence_type": "personal essay site", "access": "Public HTML index and essay pages observed 2026-09-26.", "reuse": "Brian Tomasik welcomes translations and hosting them elsewhere. 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No general reuse license found for original texts." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Translation permission", "url": "https://briantomasik.com/about-this-site/" } ], "references": [ { "label": "How Many Wild Animals Are There?", "url": "https://reducing-suffering.org/how-many-wild-animals-are-there/" }, { "label": "Should We Intervene in Nature?", "url": "https://reducing-suffering.org/should-we-intervene-in-nature/" }, { "label": "How Much Direct Suffering Is Caused by Various Animal Foods?", "url": "https://reducing-suffering.org/how-much-direct-suffering-is-caused-by-various-animal-foods/" }, { "label": "The Horror of Suffering", "url": "https://reducing-suffering.org/the-horror-of-suffering/" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "user approved from AWL review" }, "tags": [ "Suffering", "Wild animals", "Invertebrates", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "magnus-vinding", "name": "Magnus Vinding", "domain": "magnusvinding.com", "url": "https://magnusvinding.com/", "annotation": "Essays and free books on suffering-focused ethics, speciesism, wild-animal suffering, and reducing extreme suffering.", "evidence_type": "personal essay site", "access": "Public HTML, sitemap, and free book downloads observed 2026-09-26.", "reuse": "No reuse license found for website essays. Book licenses remain unverified.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Website essays; book licenses unverified." }, "references": [ { "label": "Ten Biases Against Prioritizing Wild-Animal Suffering", "url": "https://magnusvinding.com/2020/07/02/ten-biases-against-prioritizing-wild-animal-suffering/" }, { "label": "Underappreciated consequentialist reasons to avoid consuming animal products", "url": "https://magnusvinding.com/2020/10/03/underappreciated-consequentialist-reasons/" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "user approved from AWL review" }, "tags": [ "Suffering", "Speciesism", "Wild animals", "Future welfare" ] }, { "id": "simon-knutsson", "name": "Simon Knutsson", "domain": "simonknutsson.com", "url": "https://www.simonknutsson.com/", "annotation": "Philosophy on suffering-focused ethics, population ethics, and the welfare of insects and other beings.", "evidence_type": "personal philosophy site", "access": "Web reader retrieved public HTML 2026-09-26; direct orb connections timed out.", "reuse": "Website essays: all rights reserved. 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Credit contributors; adaptations use the same license. Check images and quotations separately.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "CC BY-SA 3.0", "evidence_url": "https://timelines.issarice.com/wiki/Timeline_of_wild-animal_suffering", "scope": "Credit contributors; adaptations use the same license. Check exceptions for images and quoted material." }, "references": [], "link_pattern": "focused page", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "user approved; browser-only access" }, "tags": [ "Wild animals", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "food-impacts", "name": "Food Impacts", "domain": "foodimpacts.org", "url": "https://foodimpacts.org/", "annotation": "An interactive ranking comparing animal foods by estimated welfare, health, and climate impacts, with methods and sources.", "evidence_type": "interactive data tool", "access": "Ranking is JavaScript-rendered; methods page is public HTML 2026-09-26.", "reuse": "No reuse license found for site text, rankings, code or underlying data.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Site text, rankings, code and underlying data." }, "references": [ { "label": "Methods", "url": "https://foodimpacts.org/methods" } ], "link_pattern": "focused root", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "user approved for human readers" }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Welfare measurement", "Scale and statistics" ] }, { "id": "socrethics", "name": "Socrethics", "domain": "socrethics.com", "url": "https://www.socrethics.com/", "annotation": "Long essays by Bruno Contestabile on the evolution and prevalence of suffering, negative utilitarianism, population ethics, and Buddhist philosophy.", "evidence_type": "personal philosophy site", "access": "Public HTML; robots.txt allows crawling with a crawl delay, observed 2026-09-26.", "reuse": "No reuse license found for website essays. Linked papers have separate licenses.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Website essays; linked papers have separate licenses." }, "references": [ { "label": "The Biological Evolution of Pain", "url": "https://www.socrethics.com/Folder2/Biology.htm" }, { "label": "The Cultural Evolution of Suffering", "url": "https://www.socrethics.com/Folder2/Culture.htm" }, { "label": "Is There a Predominance of Suffering?", "url": "https://www.socrethics.com/Folder2/Prevalence-of-Suffering.htm" } ], "link_pattern": "broad root with highlights", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "user approved root with animal-relevant highlights" }, "tags": [ "Suffering", "Sentience", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "between-the-species", "name": "Between the Species", "domain": "digitalcommons.calpoly.edu", "url": "https://digitalcommons.calpoly.edu/bts/", "annotation": "A peer-reviewed philosophy journal on human relationships with other animals, including moral status, animal rights, and the ethics of eating and using animals.", "evidence_type": "philosophy journal", "access": "PDF-first full text with HTML article records. 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Authors own their work; check each article's terms.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "Sample: all rights reserved", "evidence_url": "https://www.uowoajournals.org/asj/article/id/2562/", "scope": "Authors own their work; check each article's terms." }, "policy_urls": [ { "label": "Journal policies", "url": "https://www.uowoajournals.org/asj/site/policies/" } ], "references": [], "link_pattern": "focused journal section", "assessment": { "value": "useful", "notes": "Owner approved restoration despite PDF-first presentation on 2026-10-19." }, "tags": [ "Ethics", "Speciesism", "Farmed animals" ] }, { "id": "wbi-animal-sentience", "name": "Animal Sentience", "domain": "wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org", "url": "https://www.wellbeingintlstudiesrepository.org/animsent/", "annotation": "An interdisciplinary journal on what nonhuman animals feel, with research articles and invited commentaries on consciousness, pain, emotion, and their ethical implications.", "evidence_type": "journal with open peer commentary", "access": "PDF-first full text with HTML abstracts and metadata. 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It uses death rates as a proxy for suffering, leaving out nonfatal harms; the authors caution that the models do not yet justify interventions.", "evidence_type": "modeling preprint", "access": "Full text read on 2026-10-23; a PDF is also linked. Earlier orb requests were rate-limited.", "reuse": "Version 1 is CC BY-NC-ND: credit required, noncommercial sharing only, no adaptations.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "CC BY-NC-ND", "evidence_url": "https://api.biorxiv.org/details/biorxiv/10.1101/2022.10.10.511528", "scope": "Version 1: credit required, noncommercial sharing only, no adaptations." }, "references": [ { "label": "Full-text PDF", "url": "https://www.biorxiv.org/content/biorxiv/early/2022/10/11/2022.10.10.511528.full.pdf" } ], "link_pattern": "focused paper", "assessment": { "value": "specialized", "notes": "Owner reaffirmed standalone inclusion on 2026-10-23 to highlight the conservation/welfare tension. This is an exploratory model, not established intervention guidance; results depend on using death rates as a suffering proxy." }, "tags": [ "Wild animals", "Suffering", "Welfare measurement" ] }, { "id": "bass-sentience-methods", "name": "What Is It Like to Be a Bass?", "domain": "pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov", "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9094623/", "annotation": "Mason and Lavery examine which behaviors distinguish conscious experience from unconscious responses to harm, propose stronger tests of sentience, and explain why uncertainty is compatible with precautionary protection of fish.", "evidence_type": "peer-reviewed methodological review", "access": "Full-text article and correction.", "reuse": "Article licensed CC BY 4.0; attribution required.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2022.788289/full", "scope": "Article text; attribution required." }, "references": [ { "label": "Correction: Braithwaite's research leadership", "url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9209778/" } ], "link_pattern": "focused article with correction", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "Distinguishes evidential uncertainty about sentience from indifference to welfare; reviews limitations of both behavioral and neuroanatomical inference." }, "tags": [ "Sentience", "Aquatic animals", "Welfare measurement", "Ethics" ] }, { "id": "animalask-selected-welfare-research", "name": "Animal Ask — Welfare measurement and fish economics", "domain": "animalask.org", "url": "https://www.animalask.org/post/measuring-animal-welfare", "annotation": "George Bridgwater's report compares theories of well-being, the validity of welfare indicators, and methods for combining them into overall assessments. A related review by Ren Ryba examines European fish-farming economics and the evidence on the costs of welfare improvements.", "evidence_type": "selected research reports", "access": "Report landing pages with linked full text; welfare measurement is a PDF, and fish economics has a long article excerpt plus a report download.", "reuse": "No reuse license found for either report.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Both reports." }, "references": [ { "label": "Measuring Animal Welfare: full report (PDF)", "url": "https://c2b5df1e-0ba2-4201-9fb6-87e92e6ad2c0.usrfiles.com/ugd/c2b5df_1e46550329c54904ba30be150a43a48f.pdf" }, { "label": "The economics of fish farming and fish welfare in Europe", "url": "https://www.animalask.org/post/the-economics-of-fish-farming-and-fish-welfare-in-europe" } ], "link_pattern": "selected reports, not general research feed", "assessment": { "value": "useful", "notes": "Selected substantive measurement and economic research; excludes movement-strategy feed. Measurement report favors hedonic/desire theories but discusses alternatives; economic costs often modeled, not observed." }, "tags": [ "Welfare measurement", "Ethics", "Aquatic animals", "Economics" ] }, { "id": "animal-data-project", "name": "Animal Data Project — Animals", "domain": "animaldataproject.org", "url": "https://animaldataproject.org/topics/animals/", "annotation": "Research summaries, datasets, and legal documents on animal welfare and human-animal relationships. Summaries describe study findings, methods, funding, and limitations; topics include transport, housing, health, and the treatment of farmed and wild animals.", "evidence_type": "curated research library and summaries", "access": "Research summaries and topic collections with links to original studies and documents.", "reuse": "Summaries are copyrighted; no reuse license found. Linked papers have their own licenses.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "Original summaries and collections. Linked papers have their own licenses." }, "references": [ { "label": "Animals in Transport", "url": "https://animaldataproject.org/animals-are-transported-throughout-the-world/" } ], "link_pattern": "animal-focused collection with highlight", "assessment": { "value": "useful", "notes": "Links to animal-focused collection rather than broad diet/environment/health root. Journal ranking screens sources but is not an article-level quality guarantee." }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Wild animals", "Welfare measurement" ] }, { "id": "psychology-of-cows", "name": "The Psychology of Cows", "domain": "animalbehaviorandcognition.org", "url": "https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/article.php?id=1110", "annotation": "Lori Marino and Kristin Allen review cattle learning, emotions, personalities, and social relationships. They examine how calves and adult cows respond to separation, isolation, handling, and opportunities for social contact, drawing on comparative psychology and agricultural research.", "evidence_type": "peer-reviewed literature review (2017)", "access": "Publisher article page and full-text PDF.", "reuse": "Article licensed CC BY 3.0 Unported; attribution required.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "CC BY 3.0", "evidence_url": "https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/17/AB%26C_2017_Vol4%284%29_Marino_Allen.pdf", "scope": "Article text; attribution required." }, "references": [ { "label": "The Psychology of Cows: full article (PDF)", "url": "https://www.animalbehaviorandcognition.org/uploads/journals/17/AB%26C_2017_Vol4%284%29_Marino_Allen.pdf" } ], "link_pattern": "individual review with original publisher PDF", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "Substantial review of farmed animals as individuals rather than production units. Historical literature synthesis, not a current exhaustive review or a welfare scale. Discovered through Plant Based Data; original publisher copy linked." }, "tags": [ "Farmed animals", "Sentience", "Positive welfare" ] }, { "id": "belmont-report-for-animals", "name": "A Belmont Report for Animals?", "domain": "cambridge.org", "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-quarterly-of-healthcare-ethics/article/belmont-report-for-animals/F4518E13F2FE89A7719C5082A7FB44F8", "annotation": "Ferdowsian and colleagues ask how the principles governing human research—autonomy, beneficence, justice, and protection of vulnerable subjects—should apply to other animals. They examine consent and dissent, harms and benefits, and the limits of replacement, reduction, and refinement as an ethical framework.", "evidence_type": "peer-reviewed ethical analysis (2020; online 2019)", "access": "Publisher full-text article and linked erratum.", "reuse": "Article licensed CC BY 4.0; attribution required.", "license": { "status": "open", "label": "CC BY 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/cambridge-quarterly-of-healthcare-ethics/article/belmont-report-for-animals/F4518E13F2FE89A7719C5082A7FB44F8", "scope": "Article text; attribution required." }, "references": [ { "label": "Erratum: article classification", "url": "https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/B51509A63BD8A91017A28BC752F8D087" } ], "link_pattern": "individual article with erratum", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "First-order ethical reasoning about animal experimentation. Explicitly assumes approximately equal moral weight for comparable human and animal interests. Erratum concerns classification, not the argument. Discovered through Plant Based Data; original publisher linked." }, "tags": [ "Animal research", "Ethics", "Speciesism" ] }, { "id": "aquaculture-welfare-risks", "name": "Disaggregating animal welfare risks in aquaculture", "domain": "science.org", "url": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn8782", "annotation": "Chiawen Chiang and Becca Franks compare seven species-level welfare risk factors across aquaculture, including migration, solitary living, and complex parental care. They relate these risks to production volumes, prices, and numbers of animals, examining whether lower-risk species could also support affordable food production.", "evidence_type": "peer-reviewed empirical analysis (2024)", "access": "Publisher full-text article with supplementary data.", "reuse": "Article licensed CC BY-NC 4.0: attribution required, noncommercial use only.", "license": { "status": "restricted", "label": "CC BY-NC 4.0", "evidence_url": "https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adn8782", "scope": "Article text; attribution required, noncommercial use only." }, "references": [], "link_pattern": "individual research article", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "Disaggregates welfare and food-security tradeoffs rather than assuming all aquaculture is alike. Counts selected risk factors, not measured suffering; zero known factors does not establish no suffering. Discovered through Plant Based Data; original publisher linked." }, "tags": [ "Aquatic animals", "Farmed animals", "Welfare measurement", "Economics" ] }, { "id": "case-against-octopus-farming", "name": "The Case Against Octopus Farming", "domain": "issues.org", "url": "https://issues.org/the-case-against-octopus-farming/", "annotation": "Jennifer Jacquet, Becca Franks, Peter Godfrey-Smith, and Walter Sánchez-Suárez examine the welfare and environmental implications of farming octopuses. They discuss cognitive stimulation, confinement, aggression, disease, and feed-fish harms, arguing that solving environmental problems alone would not resolve the ethical objections.", "evidence_type": "scholar-authored ethical essay (2019)", "access": "Full publisher HTML essay and PDF.", "reuse": "No reuse license found for this essay.", "license": { "status": "unknown", "label": "No reuse license found", "evidence_url": null, "scope": "This essay." }, "references": [], "link_pattern": "individual essay on a broad magazine site", "assessment": { "value": "high", "notes": "Substantial welfare argument independent of environmental objections. Its 2019 industry snapshot is not a current technology survey. Discovered through Plant Based Data; original publisher linked." }, "tags": [ "Aquatic animals", "Invertebrates", "Ethics", "Suffering" ] } ], "license": { "editorial": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "metadata": "https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/", "note": "These licenses cover this catalog's original work, not content on linked websites." } }