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Space Dogs: a documentary about Laika and the dogs of the Soviet space program
#3
Quote:Let us be clear: the Soviet scientists knew that this dog would not return. This is appalling. This is a classic example, where humans *think* that they have the moral right (as *allegedly* intellectually superior beings) to use other species as "cannon fodder" for their experiments. As a teenager, I sometimes posed the question to those defending using animals for experiments: "But if intellectually superior beings from another world came and used humans for experiments, would that be OK?".
You hit right at the heart of the issue. Is it ethically okay for us to experiment on animals and would it be okay for others to experiment on us.
To say there are no others, aliens, is just trying to  evade an uncomfortable question. The issue is not the existence of alien life, the issue is the ethics of experimenting on living beings.

From the Wikipedia article you posted clearly humans did quite a bit of experimenting on animals during the space race.
They sent animals into space before they had developed recovery systems.  Having them return was not part of the experiment so it didn't matter to them.
(I notice that the  roach not only  survived, she also reproduced.)

The space race attitude towards using animals  was  in line with the overall understanding of our relationship to animals. It was accepted that animals and the whole planet existed for our use. At that time and earlier, science and medical science  in particular also experimented on humans often without their consent or knowledge. There is a whole history of experimenting on humans. Often poorer humans who were considered inferior where the subjects of experiments.

How they treated the dogs and other animals was just part of an attitude of superiority. Concepts like informed consent or animal rights are really  very new and not universally accepted.

Documentaries that expose this attitude are very much needed right now.
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Catherine

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RE: Space Dogs: a documentary about Laika and the dogs of the Soviet space program - by Catherine - 09-11-2020, 04:51 PM

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