matthes’ recommendation to “take ownership of the entire evidence pipeline” seems more plausible than ever in this context:
… simply funding the broad field of animal welfare science is likely to create scattered research results that are difficult to translate into action.
We should be involved at every stage of the process. Including
generating actionable research questions
designing experimental plans
conducting the studies
analysing the raw data
interpreting the results of the analysis and translating them into actionable recommendations
I think entire organisations could and should be founded for this. Until now, this was simply not possible. Research is expensive and slow, especially at universities. But we’re about to have the luxury to aim higher.
(To be clear, I don’t claim that this isn’t happening at all right now. There are grants being made to advance our understanding of animal suffering. But we haven’t been able to be ambitious enough so far.)
matthes’ recommendation to “take ownership of the entire evidence pipeline” seems more plausible than ever in this context: