Wanted dead or alive: ethics and animal welfare in food choice
The use of live food in zoological collections is a constant source of debate, with multiple approaches to discussions of implementation. The debate can be divided between those ‘internal’ (professionals within captive care) and ‘external’ (public) to the zoo world. Generally, there is a certain objection by a part of the public to the use […]
We demand compromise: which achieves more, asking for small or large changes?
Welfare is the state of an animal on a continuum, from poor to good, so many decisions about it are decisions of degree, such as how much feed, space or environmental enrichment should be provided. Other decisions are more discrete, such as whether animals should be kept in cages. However, in practice, many such decisions […]
New Zealand’s inclusive science-based system for setting animal welfare standards
Inclusiveness and science were, and are, essential contributors to the development and operation of New Zealand’s current system for managing animal welfare at a national level. The involvement of individuals and groups with diverse interests, having aligned, complementary or opposing views, is considered to be a most important part of this process. Participants include animal […]
Toward a synthesis of conservation and animal welfare science
Conservation biology and animal welfare science are multidisciplinary fields of research that address social concerns about animals. Conservation biology focuses on wild animals, works at the level of populations, ecological systems and genetic types, and deals with threats to biodiversity and ecological integrity. Animal welfare science typically focuses on captive (often domestic) animals, works at […]
Animal Welfare: Evolution and Erosion of a Moral Concept
There are many definitions of animal welfare. These do not only differ in their meaning, but also in their function for making a broad concept accessible for scientific research. Lexical [dictionary] definitions establish what the common meaning is of the concept to be studied, and help to find some concrete phenomena which are related to […]
A scenario analysis on the implementation of a farm animal welfare assessment system
There have been important developments in the measurement of farm animal welfare in recent years. Measuring animal welfare is one thing, implementing a farm animal welfare assessment system another. The implementation of such a system occurs in an environment that is influenced by economic, political, technological and socio-cultural factors which interact with each other. This […]
Welfare risk assessment: the benefits and common pitfalls
Risk is defined as a situation involving exposure to danger. Risk assessment by nature characterises the probability of a negative event occurring and quantifies the consequences of such an event. Risk assessment is increasingly being used in the field of animal welfare as a means of drawing comparisons between multiple welfare problems within and between […]
Designing animal welfare policies and monitoring progress
A single solution to promote higher animal welfare across the whole EU is unlikely due to significant regional differences and because what is most appropriate for each region depends on many factors. Based on analyses of eight member and candidate EU countries, this paper provides a conceptual framework, an ‘animal welfare roadmap’, which can be […]
A method for the economic valuation of animal welfare benefits using a single welfare score
Unless the benefits to society of measures to protect and improve the welfare of animals are made transparent by means of their valuation they are likely to go unrecognised and cannot easily be weighed against the costs of such measures as required, for example, by policy-makers. A simple single measure scoring system, based on the […]
Better rodent control by better regulation: regulatory incentives and regulator support to improve the humaneness of rodent control
Regulation by government can act as a constraint to improving the humaneness of rodent control, or it can be used to support improvements. How do we make sure it does one and not the other? Societal support and understanding, economic impacts and current knowledge can all ‘make or break’ progress towards improved rodent control. This […]