Lecture 6 Flashcards
What is Contractualism?
No moral standing, use animals as we wish, treat well because it may benefit us
What is Utilitarianism?
it is ok to use animals, but you need to treat well
What is Animal rights?
Not ok to use animals
What is the animal rights view?
Animal production is unacceptable
Lobby for gradual or complete abolition
Pets/sport/entertainment/hunting etc unacceptable
What is the animal welfare view?
Animal production is acceptable
Animals should receive responsible care
Identify practices that promote health & quality of life
Where do producers stand on the welfare continuum?
- Care for animals
- Feeding the world
- Outnumbered & misunderstood: livelihood is under attack!
- US vs THEM
Where do activists stand on the welfare continuum?
-‘Militant vegans’
-Abolish agriculture
- Vocal & strategic
- Killing is wrong!
- US vs THEM
Where do consumers stand on the welfare continuum?
- Confused, guilty
- Doesn’t know/ or doesn’t want to know about animal ag
There are different opinions based on what?
Urban or rural
Age demographic, gender
Religion
Occupation
How you are raised
Health choices
Media
Financially
Education
Friends/Family
What people are mostly in the animal rights?
18-30 year old females
Timeline- how did we get here to animal welfare?
1596- Rene Descartes,
- Animals are automatons; they cannot think, therefore they cannot feel
1700’s- Public dissections: observed similarities between humans and animals
1800- Jeremy Bentham
-the right question is not “Can they reason? Or can they talk?”, but “Can they suffer?”
1800’s: ‘First Welfare movement’ (Anti vivisection, etc)
1965-present: ‘Second Welfare movement’
What happened in The First Welfare Movement?
Generally considered from ~1800 to 1960
Moral arguments recognize human obligation to treat animals humanely:
-debated as far back as ancient Greece, 6th century B.C.
Development of animal welfare organizations
-Focused on abuse, neglect and deprivation
-Based on property laws -> harm to owner
Early Legislation- addressed basic standards
Woodgush - appointed in 1952 to study farm animal welfare
What was the Inspiration for the RSPCA?
A Dissertation on the Duty of Mercy and Sin of Cruelty to Brute Animals (Primatt, 1776)
1822, Richard Martin MP, pilots first anti-cruelty bill giving cattle, horses and sheep a degree of protection through parliament
1824, Royal Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals founded in London (initially SPCA)
What was the Early Legislation?
Anti-cruelty laws
-abuse and neglect
Humane slaughter
-extending to 1960’s
Transportation laws
-duration of transport
what happened with Intensification of Animal Production?
1950s onwards – livestock production
experienced a scale change
-Esp poultry, eggs and swine
Intensified production- post-WWII science & technology
-Increased scale of production and efficiency to feed the growing population
New systems & technologies- gestation stalls, farrowing pens for sows, cages for layer hens, higher stocking densities, liquid manure systems, use of antibiotics as growth promoters
What were the Developments in Nutrition?
Foraging and grain supplements
Balanced feedstuffs
Balanced nutrients
-natural and synthetic sources: amino acids, energy, essential fats, vitamins, and minerals
Industrial by-products used to reduce cost
-DDGS (distiller’s dried grain with solubles)
-Source? Other byproducts?
What were the Developments in Housing?
Access to shelter (!)
Complete confinement
-Forced ventilation, environmental controls
Environmental management: (Good and bad)
-controlled heating and ventilation
-lighting control, manure handling
-Space restriction, gaseous environment, contact, disease
Mechanisation
-Grain augers, combine harvesters
What happened in the Second Welfare Movement?
Arose with combination of events:
Attitudes towards animals, evolving since 1800s
Early 20th century saw little change: two World Wars and the Great Depression
Post-war era: Use of new technologies to feed a growing population – science!!
1964: Release of ‘Animal Machines’ by Ruth Harrison; first critique of intensive farming…
The Second Animal Welfare Movement was different from the first: ‘Science’ was called upon to clarify the issues & guide
reforms
Who is Ruth Harrison?
British housewife
Wrote newspaper articles critiquing how farm animals were being raised
A social commentary, more than scientific
criticism
Book themes:
-animal suffering,
-unnaturalness of the systems,
-change from agrarian to industrial activity,
-all leading to doubts re food quality/safety
Gestation crates for sows, veal calves, conventional cages for chickens
Led to the appointment of the Brambell committee
What is the Brambell Report?
Chair of Brambell Committee: Professor F.W. Rogers Brambell, immunologist
Report of the Technical Committee to Enquire into the ‘Welfare of Animals Kept Under Intensive Livestock Husbandry Systems’
“Welfare is a wide term that embraces both the physical and mental well-being of the animal…
Any attempt to evaluate welfare… must take into account the scientific evidence available concerning the feelings of animals
What is the Farm Animal Welfare Council?
Findings of Brambell Report led to the start of the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (1967)
-now Animal Welfare Committee
The committee recommended animals be given freedom to “stand up, lie down, turn around, groom themselves and stretch their limbs”
Guidelines were later expanded to the Five Freedoms
What are the 5 freedoms?
- Freedom from Hunger and Thirst
- Freedom from Discomfort
- Freedom from Pain, Injury or Disease
- Freedom to Express Normal Behaviour
- Freedom from Fear and Distress
Why is a definition of Animal Welfare needed?
Scientific study- research priorities: what is important?
Legislative purposes-lawmaking/protection
Practical use- on-farm assessment & improvement
Is it possible to separate the science from the moral debate?
No
What Three broad approaches have emerged when defining welfare?
“Feelings-based”
“Function-based”
“Natural Living ”
What is the feelings approach?
Welfare is a term that can only be used for animals that are capable of experiencing subjective feelings
-sentient beings
-Can PLANTS have poor welfare? No
Welfare is reduced by negative subjective states such as pain, fear, frustration, hunger and thirst
The task for science is to develop means of assessing feelings:
-measure preferences or motivation
-e.g. for feeds, bedding, temperature
What is the functional approach?
The welfare of an animal is based on whether its biological systems are functioning normally
welfare is reduced by disease, injury, and malnutrition
good welfare results in high levels of growth and reproduction
welfare is a continuum from good to poor
Emphasis is on objective scientific measures: epidemiology, pathology, productivity, physiology, immunology, longevity
What is the natural living approach?
Conditions should be as similar to natural environment as possible
Welfare science compares the behaviour of animals in wild state with animals living in captivity
-differences suggest deficiencies in the captive environment.
How do we implement the Five Freedoms?
Laws/Regulations
Codes of Practice
Audits - packer, producer
How do you assess welfare?
Input (engineer)-based standards:
-System based: stocking density, alley width, ramp angle, written procedures (SOPs)
—Pro: Easy to verify
—Con: May not result in good welfare
-Inflexible- is based on the ‘average’ animal
Outcome-based standards:
-Animal based: behaviour, illness, injury
—Pros: measures are relevant, important
—Cons: Subjective measures, time consuming
-More flexible for the producer
