animal ethics

Question 1

when are animals used as resources?

Answer 1

zoos

farms

laboratories

pets

Question 2

Pros and cons from the perspective of a pet animal

Answer 2

• enforce their dependence on us and that seems wrong
• some pets suffer

________________

• some oets are loved and respected
• a life as a pet is better than many of the alternatives (including the most likely alternatives)

Question 3

what are four questions you should ask in terms of ethics in zoos?

Answer 3

Does the zoo environment mimic the natural environment of the animal? 

Are they well treated? 

Are they safer/healthier in the zoo than in the wild? 

Is the zoo participating in a broader program to help the species?

Question 4

name and briefly describe the three major positions in animal ethics

Answer 4

-exceptionalism

humans are seen as special. We have only derivative duties to animals (All humans have, & All non-human animals lack)

-abolitionism

The claim that non-human animals have a moral status that is incompatible with the use of animals as the resources of human beings: 

Food 

Clothing 

Entertainment 

Test subjects

-welfarism (Welfarists disagree about what suffering is unnecessary.)

we have some duties to animals, but don’t prevent us from (sometimes) legitemately using animals

Question 5

What argument could be used to support an abolitionist position, if one claimed that there is *no good reason* to cause pain to animals?

Answer 5

1. animals can experience pain
2. pain is bad
3. it is wrong to impose something bad on any being without a good reason for doing so
4. therefore it is wrong to cause pain to animals without a good reason

Question 6

 If abolitionists (and the stricter welfarists) are right, then many of our current practices are deeply immoral.

give some examples for animal use today

Answer 6

• riding horses
• having pets
• working elephants
• eating meat
• laboratory testing

Question 7

why would we want to test things on animals?

Answer 7

: The benefits (to humans and non-human animals) of continuing to use animals in lab settings, outweigh the costs (harms to the animals used). So, we should use them

-> tests on rats safe human lives (can test drugs without killing humans)

If animal testing, considered overall, enhances the wellbeing in the world, we should do it. Further, we should do whatever amount of it, in whatever way, maximises overall wellbeing.​

Question 8

Name four arguments for and four arguments agains animal testing

Answer 8

YES? 

• Coronary bypass surgery – developed through research with dogs. 
• Diabetes – Insulin discovered through dog research. (Helps animals too! Dogs & cats also suffer from diabetes) -Dementia research – new therapies developed from research with mice and primates 
• Cancer

 NO? 

• Some animal testing leads us in the wrong direction – hard to translate from other animals to us. 
• Is animal testing the most cost-effective way to achieve these results? 
• Were the animals treated well in the process? 
• How many animals died? 

Question 9

what are the three R’s of animal welfare

Answer 9

Replacement  Methods which avoid or replace the use of animals

Reduction  Methods which minimise the number of animals used per experiment

Refinement  Methods which minimise animal suffering and improve welfare

Question 10

what matters in welfarism?

Answer 10

We only use animals when we have reason to believe that doing so will provide benefits that other methods do not provide.

We treat the animals we use well (where ‘well’ needs to be cashed out…)

We optimise our experiments so we need as few animals as possible