Animal Welfare
welfare of animals is a concept that relates to the animals experience of its own life. This leads to a moral concern for the lives of animals because of their potential to suffer if their needs and requirements are not met. As we will discuss further this concept often uses a scientific view of what animals may require from their lives and environments, in order to determine whether animals are suffering, and what can be done to mitigate this. This can act as a ‘bridging concept’, as outlined by David Fraser in 1999, which links the animals experience, via the science that gathers evidence to support this, to animal welfare ethical and moral concerns, which determine what is most appropriate way to behave towards or to treat animals. One of the important factors in this concept is the use of scientific evidence to support moral decision making around what are acceptable practices with animals. Welfare of animals is also heavily oriented towards:
· Care for animals
· Animal husbandry and
· Living in community with animals.
It accepts that animal autonomy may be compromised by animal use, but this is mitigated by increased standards of care, which may exceed what the animal would be able to obtain in the natural environment.
Animal Rights
Animal rights, animal liberation or justice for animals are largely concepts based in ethical or philosophical thinking that focuses on the individual animal, and demand equality of treatment for animals with humans on the basis that each are sentient. These principles suggest that equal rights or consideration of their interests should be given to all sentient beings. Thus justice and equality of treatment are very important in thinking about animal rights. However, this thinking does not really consider animal care or husbandry to be important or relevant concepts in the treatment of animals. In addition, this thinking can sometimes be very difficult to apply in practice where decision-making may be made at a population, herd or farm level, and where many conflicting issues can converge.
Example: In thinking about wildlife population management, the competing interests of all the following need consideration in reaching an appropriate decision
· Individual animals
· The health and welfare of animal population
· The environmental ecosystem and
· The lives of people who live within a particular area
Animal Cruelty
Cruelty can be defined as the deliberate or malicious infliction of mental or physical pain on animals, and indifference to their suffering. Cruelty, or animal abuse, can be by commission or by omission:
Commission: Cruelty, or animal abuse, can be by commission, where there is a deliberate act, such as physically beating an animal.
Omission: Cruelty can also be an omission that is by failing to act, such as not providing an animal with food or water.
Cruelty undoubtedly has an impact on the welfare state of the animal, but the absence of cruelty is not sufficient for animal welfare to be good. Thus although animal abuse and animal welfare are associated, they are not the same thing: animal welfare considers the positive and neutral aspects of an animal’s life, as well as the absence of negative states.
Different views of animal use in terms of welfare, rights and cruelty are summarized
Animal Welfare vs. Animal Rights vs. Animal Cruelty
· Animal welfare focuses on the experience of animals and considers the care and husbandry of animals.
· Animal rights focus on equality of treatment of all sentient beings, including humans.
· Animal cruelty, or the avoidance of cruelty, focuses on negative aspects of animal misuse and abuse.
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