INTRODUCTION OF VETERINARY SCIENCEANIMAL WELFARE

Prepared by, Nicole Seng Lai Giea

Welfare?

 is the physical and psychological well-being of animals

 human concern for animal welfare or a position in a debate on animal ethics 

and animal rights

Welfare

"the avoidance of abuse and exploitation of animals by humans by maintaining appropriate standards of accommodation, feeding and general care, the prevention and treatment of disease and the assurance of freedom from harassment, and unnecessary discomfort and pain.”

(Saunders Comprehensive Veterinary Dictionary)

Free from thirst and hunger?

Free from discomfort and distress

Free to express normal behaviour

Free from fear and distress

Welfare and You

Motivations to improve the welfare of animals may stem from many factors including 

sympathy, empathy, utility, genes (inherited traits), and memes (cultural factors)

 Motivations can be based on self-interest Laws punishing cruelty to animals tend to not

just be based on welfare concerns but the belief that such behavior has repercussions toward the treatment of other humans by the animal abusers

Five Freedoms (Farm Animal Welfare Council, 1979)

Freedom from thirst and hunger Freedom from discomfort Freedom from pain, injury, and

disease Freedom to express normal

behaviour Freedom from fear and distress

Cannibalism and feather pecking

Animal welfare

 "its state as regards its attempts to cope with its environment.” (Donald Broom)

 "Welfare biology is the study of living things and their environment with respect to their welfare (defined as net happiness, or enjoyment

 minus suffering).’’ (Yew-Kwang Ng) Welfarism, which hold that animals

should not be used by humans, and should not be regarded as their property.

Questions to discuss

What is stress? Quality of life? Happy and happiness?

Quality of life

 is used to evaluate the general well-being of individuals and societies

not only wealth and employment ( living standard)

built environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging

 related are concepts such as freedom, animal rights, and happiness

True happiness

positive emotions ranging from contentment 

to intense joy happiness lasts forever Learn how to give Learn to love wholeheartedly To Love is to Be Kind Managing Great Opportunities in LifeLive for the Present! Not the

Past!

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi 

Zoo

Collection of Unhappy Animals?

Zoos claim to help with conservation

Animal ethics

(DUTCH) Animal Health and Welfare Act referred to it in 1981:

"Acknowledgment of the intrinsic value of animals means that animals have value in their own right and as a consequence their interests are no longer automatically subordinate to man's interests."

Animal ethnics

intrinsic value of an animal refers to the value it possesses in its own right, as an end-in-itself, as opposed to its Instrumental value, its value to other animals (including human being)

a good-of-their-own, and an interest in their own well-being ( in relation to the moral status of animals)

Anthropocentrism

 describes the tendency for human beings to regard themselves as the central and most significant entities in the universe, or the assessment of reality through an exclusively human perspective

Humanocentrism = human sepremacy

Intrinsic values

Behaviorism Utilitarian deontology

Behaviorism

 a philosophy of psychology based on the proposition that all things that organisms do—including acting, thinking and feeling—can and should be regarded as behaviours

that psychological disorders are best treated by altering behaviour patterns or modifying the environment

Elephants in the wild for instance, are used to traveling many miles a day in herds of about ten related adults and their offspring. They are very social animals.

In zoos, elephants are usually kept in pairs or even isolated. Their enclosures are incredibly small, compared to what they are used to in the wild. Elephants often show many signs of being stressed out or bored, like engaging in repetitive movements.

Utilitarian

maximizes the overall "good“ ( Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill)‘’to achieve the greater good for the greater

number of people’’ (1) to maximize the total happiness of all living

beings; (2) place stringent side constraints on what one may do to human beings. Human beings may not be used or sacrificed for the benefit of others; animals may be used or sacrificed for the benefit of other people or animals only if those benefits are greater than the loss inflicted

 it is depending on your motive and moral guideline

Deontology

Obligation and mission Animal right

Animal Right

 Animal rights, also known as animal liberation, is the idea that the most basic interests of non-human animals should be afforded the same consideration as the similar interests of human beings

means entails the right to be treated with respect, which includes the right not to be harmed (Regan)

 minimize overriding

Animal Right -- Abolitionism  ”animal welfare reform not only fails to

challenge animal suffering, but may prolong it by making the exercise of property rights over animals appear acceptable”

The abolitionists' objective is to secure a moral and legal paradigm shift, whereby animals are no longer regarded as things to be owned and used

whereby animals may be used as food, clothing, entertainment and in experiments so long as their suffering is regulated

Animal Right -- protectionism  favours incremental change in

pursuit of non-human animal interests.

It is contrasted with abolitionism, the position that human beings have no moral right to use animals, and ought to have no legal right, no matter how the animals are treated.

Animal right--Nonhuman

Nonhuman actor Its use marks a shift in how the role

of humans is perceived and discussed. Rather than traditional perceptions of humankind as a superior species

to highlight that humans co-exist with other living species and are embedded within complex systems that support their survival on Earth

Animal right-- speciesism

the assigning of different values or rights to beings on the basis of their species 

membership Speciesism is discrimination, and like all

discrimination it overlooks or underestimates the similarities between the discriminator and those discriminated against

 that it is irrational or morally wrong to regard sentient beings as objects or property

Conclusion

"although the interests of animals often conflict with the demands of society, society remains responsible for the welfare of the animals involved. Considerations regarding animal welfare ought to be based on veterinary, scientific and ethological norms, but not on sentiment. And although animals do not have fundamental rights, human beings have certain moral obligations towards them."