The Hidden Lives of Lab Animals: A Vet’s Vision for a More Humane Future

A lifelong veterinarian invites us into animal labs--and shares his vision for more compassionate research.

For decades, laboratory veterinarian Larry Carbone has advocated for both animal welfare and medical progress. In The Hidden Lives of Lab Animals, he offers an insider’s perspective on the ethics of using animals in scientific research. Recounting both heartening medical triumphs and heartrending stories of animal suffering, Carbone grapples with how to weigh scientific advancement against harms to our fellow sentient creatures--and how some of those harms can and should be avoided.

With a scientist’s head and an animal lover’s heart, Carbone shows how addressing animals’ physical and emotional needs not only enhances their well-being but also leads to more robust scientific research. Authoritative and compassionate, The Hidden Lives of Lab Animals reveals the complex reality of what animals experience under the care of scientists, what humans gain from their involuntary service, and what we owe them moving forward.

Larry Carbone, former Director of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Program at the University of California, San Francisco, is author of What Animals Want.