Chapter 2.1. How to refer to an animal? (2007)

LAREF [Laboratory Animal Refinement and Enrichment Forum]

Abstract

As caregivers, we do not use the pronoun it when referring to an animal. An animal is not an object! We do not think that calling an animal he or she encourages anthropomorphism, but that it does acknowledge the fact that we are dealing with an individual sentient being who can feel discomfort, pain and distress in very similar ways as we do. Calling individual animals he or she helps us deal with something that deep down, we are not really comfortable with namely the fact that these animals have no choice about deciding whether they want to be used in research and then killed.Referring to an animal as it is neither correct nor scientific, because it overlooks the fact that animals, just like humans, have a biological gender. Therefore, they should be referred to accordingly with the correct pronouns he or she. When we label an animal with the incorrect pronoun it, we risk treating the animal like an inanimate object incapable of feeling discomfort, pain and distress.