Uncaged: A Call for a Temporary Moratorium on Non-Human Animal Psi Research

Mark Boccuzzi
The Windbridge Institute, LLC
Tucson, AZ USA
Email: mark@windbridgeInstitute.com  

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Synopsis:

Introduction: Non-human animal psi research, dating back to early twentieth-century experiments, continues to produce intriguing yet inconsistent findings. Anecdotal accounts and observational studies report precognitive or telepathic behaviors in species from insects to domesticated pets, but controlled laboratory protocols often impose stress through forced stimuli and deprivation. These methods not only compromise data integrity via experimenter-expectancy and environmental confounds but also raise serious welfare concerns. With the Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness (2012) affirming complex sentience across many species, there is an urgent need to pause such research and establish ethically and methodologically sound standards before proceeding.

Aim/Objective: This proposal argues for a temporary moratorium on all non-human animal psi research to:

• Ethically safeguard sentient beings from distress.
• Methodologically address experimenter effects and uncontrolled variables.
• Rationally develop humane, rigorous standards before resuming inquiry into animal psi.

Methods: A comprehensive review of published literature and institutional reports was conducted, focusing on:

• Ethical analyses of animal distress in psi protocols.
• Methodological critiques, including the Source of Psi Problem and experimenter-expectancy biases.
• Case studies illustrating emotional burdens on animal guardians.

Data were appraised against established animal-research guidelines and consciousness frameworks to  identify critical gaps and propose best practices.

Results:
Ethical issues: Invasive conditioning and stress induction frequently infringe welfare standards.

Methodological limitations: Persistent experimenter-effects undermine reproducibility; blinding measures fail to eliminate subjective influence.

Observational pitfalls: Even “non-invasive” studies can inadvertently distress animals by imposing unnatural observation contexts, leading to ambiguous data.

Implications / Discussion: A temporary moratorium would give researchers the opportunity to craft ethical guidelines that fully acknowledge animal sentience in psi investigations and to design standardized protocols that reduce experimenter bias and maintain consistent environmental conditions. It would also encourage meaningful collaboration among parapsychologists, ethicists, and animal-welfare specialists. By pausing current practices until these standards are in place, the field can resume its work with greater methodological rigor and more trustworthy insights into psi phenomena without sacrificing the well-being of the non-human animals involved.

Acknowledgements: The author thanks CEAPAR colleagues for manuscript review and the Windbridge Institute for sharing unpublished ethical assessments.

Keywords: animal psi; ethics; consciousness; methodology; moratorium

References: 
1.    Beischel, J. (2012, June). Anomalous information reception by credentialed mediums regarding non-human animal discarnates. Paper presented at the 31st Annual Meeting of the Society for Scientific Exploration.
2.    Boccuzzi, M., & Beischel, J. (2010, April). Old dog, new trick: The effect of animal micro-psychokinesis on quantum events. Paper presented at Toward a Science of Consciousness 2010, Tucson, AZ.
3.    Low, P., Panksepp, J., Reiss, D., Edelman, D., Van Swinderen, B., & Koch, C. (2012). The Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness. Francis Crick Memorial Conference.
4.    Windbridge Institute (2018). Psi experimenter effects [Fact sheet]. 

Biography:

Mark Boccuzzi is a passionate researcher and co-founder of Windbridge Institute, LLC, specializing in the non-local nature of consciousness, mindfulness, intuition, and synchronicity. As Executive Director of the Windbridge Research Center, a nonprofit focused on peer-reviewed research into death and the afterlife, Boccuzzi advances scientific exploration into profound human experiences. Boccuzzi is also the author of several books, including Unlocked: How to Harness Your Psychic Abilities and Mastering AI Prompt Engineering. Boccuzzi merges applied research, advanced technology, and interactive media to foster a more compassionate, sustainable, and interconnected world.