Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals for food, in animal research, as clothing, and in entertainment, so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided. Animal testing or animal research is the use of non-human Animals in scientific experimentation. The position is contrasted with the animal rights position, which holds that other animals should not be used by, or regarded as the property of, humans. "Animal liberation" redirects here for other uses see Animal liberation (disambiguation. ^[1]

Contents 1 History of animal welfare 1.1 Welfare in practice 1.1.1 Animal Welfare in Nazi Germany 1.2 Welfare principles 1.3 The five freedoms 2 Animal welfare compared with animal rights 3 Criticisms of animal welfare 4 Regional differences 5 Animal welfare groups 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

History of animal welfare

Systematic concern for the well-being of other animals probably first arose as a system of thought in the Indus Valley Civilization as the religious belief that ancestors return in animal form, and that animals must therefore be treated with the respect due to a human. The Indus Valley Civilization (Mature period 2600&ndash1900 BCE abbreviated IVC, was an ancient Civilization that flourished in the Indus River basin This belief is exemplified in the existing religion, Jainism, and in varieties of other Indian religions. Jainism, traditionally known as Jain Dharma / Shraman Dharma (जैन धर्म is an ancient religion of India. Indian religions, also called Dharmic religions, are the related religious traditions that originated in the Indian subcontinent, namely Hinduism, Other religions, especially those with roots in the Abrahamic religion, treat animals as the property of their owners, codifying rules for their care and slaughter intended to limit the distress, pain and fear animals experience under human control.

Welfare in practice

From the outset in 1822, when British MP Richard Martin shepherded a bill through Parliament offering protection from cruelty to cattle, horses and sheep (earning himself the nickname Humanity Dick), the welfare approach has had human morality, and humane behaviour, at its central concern. Colonel Richard "Humanity Dick" Martin ( 15 January 1754 &ndash 6 January 1834) was an Irish politician and Animal Martin was among the founders of the world's first animal welfare organization, the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, or SPCA, in 1824. This article is about the original RSPCA in England and Wales In 1840, Queen Victoria gave the society her blessing, and it became the RSPCA. Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901 was from 20 June 1837 the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland This article is about the original RSPCA in England and Wales The society used members' donations to employ a growing network of inspectors, whose job was to identify abusers, gather evidence, and report them to the authorities.

Similar groups sprang up elsewhere in Europe and then in North America. The first such group in the United States, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, was chartered in the state of New York in 1866. American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals ( ASPCA) is a Non-profit organization which as the name says is dedicated to preventing cruelty towards New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Organizations commonly associated with the welfare view in the United States today include the American Veterinary Medical Association, or AVMA. The American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA founded in 1863 is a not-for-profit association representing more than 76000 U

Today, a number of religious denominations have added animal welfare to their list of ministry concerns. In Christian churches, a minister is someone who is authorized by a church or religious organization to perform clergy functions such as teaching of beliefs Animal-related ethics courses, animal blessings, prayer for animals and animal ministries have increased in popularity. Ethics is a major branch of Philosophy, encompassing right conduct and good life In 2007, the Interfaith Association of Animal Chaplains was formed in the USA to assist clergy members concerned about animals and their welfare to network and share information easily over the internet. Animal chaplains provide a wide array of services to the Community, including Pet loss grief support animal Memorial services Praying for The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A number of Animal Chaplain's books and websites reference scriptural passages from the world's sacred texts supporting animal welfare.

Animal Welfare in Nazi Germany

Main article: Animal welfare in Nazi Germany

The National Socialists embraced animal welfare as a central theme. There was widespread support for animal welfare in Nazi Germany and the Nazis took several measures to ensure protection of animals The, officially National Socialist German Workers' Party, ( abbreviated NSDAP) was a Political party in Germany between 1919 and 1945 Presenting Hitler as an animal lover was an important aspect of Nazi propaganda, and his close relationship with his German shepherd Blondi became well known. Hi and welcome to Wikipedia! Please understand that this article is frequently vandalized and vandalism is reverted immediately The German Shepherd Dog ( GSD) (Deutscher Schäferhund is a breed of large-sized dog that originates from Germany. Blondi ( 1934 - 29 April 1945) was Adolf Hitler 's German Shepherd dog given to him as a gift in 1941 by Martin Bormann. In 19th century Germany, various Tierschutz (animal protection) organizations had won high level celebrity support, from Richard Wagner for example, who famously remarked that he would not want to live in a world in which "no dog would wish to live any longer. "^[2]

The main concerns of the animal protection movement since the 19th century had been kosher slaughtering and vivisection, issues the Nazis picked up on as soon as they came to power in January 1933 as part of their sweeping attacks on Jews, with the claim that vivisection was part of what they called "Jewish science. Kashrut (also kashruth or kashrus, he כַּשְׁרוּת refers to Jewish dietary laws. Animal testing or animal research is the use of non-human Animals in scientific experimentation. PLEASE TAKE NOTE************ " They passed laws regulating slaughter in April 1933, and banned vivisection in August 1933, removing the ban three weeks later when they were persuaded it would have a negative effect on research, and introducing regulation instead. On November 24, 1933, the Tierschutzgesetz, or animal protection law, was introduced, the first of a series of similar laws, giving Germany the most extensive animal protection legislation in Europe at the time. Events 380 - Theodosius I makes his adventus, or formal Year 1933 ( MCMXXXIII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Hermann Göring threatened to send anyone violating the vivisection regulations to concentration camps. Hermann Wilhelm Göring (also spelled Goering) (12 January 1893 15 October 1946 was a German Politician, Military leader and a leading member ^[3]

The legislation was retained in postwar Germany, east and west, although both the Jewish and Muslim communities there are now allowed to practise ritual slaughter, called Shechita and Dhabihah. Ritual slaughter is the practice of slaughtering livestock for meat in a Ritual manner e Shechita ( Hebrew:he שחיטה is the Ritual slaughter of mammals and birds according to Jewish dietary laws. Dhabīḥah (ar ذَبِيْحَة is the prescribed method of Ritual slaughter of all animals excluding fish and most sea-life per Islamic law ^[4]

Welfare principles

The UK government commissioned an investigation into the welfare of intensively farmed animals from Professor Roger Brambell in 1965, partly in response to concerns raised in Ruth Harrison's 1964 book, Animal Machines. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Ruth Harrison (1920–2000 was a leading British Animal welfare activist and Author. On the basis of Professor Brambell's report, the UK government set up the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in 1967, which became the Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1979. Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar. FAWC is an independent organisation set up to advise the UK government on issues regarding the welfare of farm animals in the UK Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The committee's first guidelines recommended that animals require the freedoms to 'turn around, to groom themselves, to get up, to lie down and to stretch their limbs'. These have since been elaborated to become known as the Five Freedoms of animal welfare:

The five freedoms

1. Freedom from thirst, hunger and malnutrition
2. Freedom from discomfort due to environment
3. Freedom from pain, injury and disease
4. Freedom to express normal behaviour for the species
5. Freedom from fear and distress^[5]

Animal welfare compared with animal rights

The Utilitarianism series, part of the Politics series
Utilitarian Thinkers Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Henry Sidgwick Peter Singer Forms preference utilitarianism rule utilitarianism act utilitarianism Two-level utilitarianism Total utilitarianism Average utilitarianism animal welfare Abolitionism (bioethics) Hedonism Enlightened self-interest Predecessors Epicurus David Hume William Godwin Key concepts Pain Suffering Pleasure Utility Happiness Eudaimonia Consequentialism Felicific calculus Problems Mere addition paradox Paradox of hedonism Utility monster See Also Rational choice theory Game theory Social choice Economics
Portal:Politics

Most animal welfarists argue that the animal rights view goes too far, and do not advocate the elimination of all animal use or companionship. Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is solely determined by its contribution to overall Utility, that is its contribution to happiness Politics Politics is the process by which groups of people make decisions This is an incomplete list of advocates of Utilitarianism. John Austin Jeremy Bentham Richard Brandt Jeremy Bentham ( IPA: or) (15 February 1748&ndash6 June 1832 was an English Jurist, Philosopher, and legal and Social reformer John Stuart Mill (20 May 1806 &ndash 8 May 1873 British Philosopher, political economist, civil servant and Member of Parliament, was an influential Henry Sidgwick ( May 31, 1838 – August 28, 1900) was an English Utilitarian Philosopher. Peter Albert David Singer (born July 6, 1946 in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) is an Australian philosopher. Preference utilitarianism is quite probably the most popular form of Utilitarianism in contemporary philosophy Rule utilitarianism is a form of Utilitarianism which states that moral actions are those which conform to the rules which lead to the greatest good or that "the rightness Act utilitarianism is a Utilitarian theory of Ethics which states that the morally right action is the one which produces the greatest amount of happiness for the Two-level utilitarianism is a utilitarian theory of Ethics developed by R All proponents of Utilitarianism believe that the quality of conscious experience is important indeed it is the basis of their consequentialist approach to Ethics All proponents of Utilitarianism believe that the quality of conscious experience is important indeed it is the basis of their consequentialist approach to Ethics Abolitionism is a Bioethical school and movement which proposes the use of Biotechnology to maximize Happiness and minimize Suffering while Hedonism is the Philosophy that Pleasure is of ultimate importance, the most important pursuit Enlightened self-interest is a philosophy in Ethics which states that persons who act to further the interests of others (or the interests of the group or groups to David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy William Godwin ( 3 March 1756 &ndash 7 April 1836) was an English journalist political philosopher and Novelist Pain, in the sense of physical pain, is a typical sensory experience that may be described as the unpleasant awareness of a noxious stimulus or bodily harm Suffering, or pain, is an individual's basic Affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm Pleasure is commonly conceptualized as a positive experience Happiness, Entertainment, Enjoyment, ecstasy, and euphoria, but is hard In Economics, utility is a measure of the relative satisfaction from or desirability of Consumption of various Goods and services. Happiness is an Emotion associated with feelings ranging from contentment and satisfaction to Bliss and intense Joy. Eudaimonia ( Greek:) is a classical Greek word commonly translated as ' Happiness ' Consequentialism refers to those moral theories which hold that the consequences of a particular action form the basis for any valid moral judgment about that action The felicific calculus is an Algorithm formulated by utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham for calculating the degree or amount of Pleasure The mere addition paradox is a problem in Ethics, identified by Derek Parfit, and appearing in his book Reasons and Persons. The paradox of Hedonism, also called the pleasure paradox, is the idea in the study of Ethics which points out that Pleasure and Happiness The utility monster is a Thought experiment in the study of Ethics. Rational choice theory, also known as rational action theory, is a framework for understanding and often formally modeling social and economic behavior Game theory is a branch of Applied mathematics that is used in the Social sciences (most notably Economics) Biology, Engineering, Social choice theory studies voting rules that govern and describe how individual preferences are aggregated to form a collective preference Economics is the social science that studies the production distribution, and consumption of goods and services. They may believe that humans have a moral responsibility not to cause cruelty (unnecessary suffering) to other animals. Suffering, or pain, is an individual's basic Affective experience of unpleasantness and aversion associated with harm or threat of harm Animal rights advocates, such as Gary L. Francione and Tom Regan, argue that the animal welfare position (advocating for the betterment of the condition of animals, but without abolishing animal use: see veganism) is logically inconsistent and ethically unacceptable. Gary Lawrence Francione (born 1954 is an American legal scholar Tom Regan (born November 28, 1938 in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania) is an American Philosopher who specializes in Animal rights theory However, there are some animal rights groups, such as PETA, which support animal welfare measures in the short term to alleviate animal suffering until all animal use is ended.

According to Ingrid Newkirk in an interview with Wikinews, there are two issues in animal welfare and animal rights. Ingrid Newkirk (born June 11, 1949) is an English-born Animal rights activist author and president and co-founder of People for the Ethical Treatment Wikinews is a free-content News source Wiki and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. "If I only could have one thing, it would be to end suffering," said Newkirk. "If you could take things from animals and kill animals all day long without causing them suffering, then I would take it. . . Everybody should be able to agree that animals should not suffer if you kill them or steal from them by taking the fur off their backs or take their eggs, whatever. But you shouldn’t put them through torture to do that. "^[6] But Newkirk raised a second issue related to animal rights: "Who are we that we have set ourselves up on this pedestal and we believe that we have a right to take from others everything—including their life—simply because we want to do it? Shouldn’t we stop and think for a second that maybe they are just others like us? Other nations, other individuals, other cultures. Just others. Not sub-human, but just different from being human. "

Criticisms of animal welfare

At one time, many people denied that animals could feel anything, and thus had no interests. Many Cartesians were of this opinion, though Cottingham (1978) has argued that Descartes himself did not hold such a view. Cartesianism is the name given to the philosophical doctrine (or school of René Descartes.

An additional critique regards animal welfarism in practice, arguing that welfarists demonstrate disproportional concern for some species of animals over others without providing rational/scientific justification for such preferences - this goes by the term Speciesism. Speciesism involves assigning different values or rights to beings on the basis of their Species membership E. g. , some critics say the movement favors companion animals over commercial animals, wild over domestic animals, or mammals over birds/reptiles/fishes. Mammals ( class Mammalia) are a class of Vertebrate Animals characterized by the presence of Sweat glands, including sweat glands For example, the welfare movement commonly opposes anesthetized declawing of pet cats by veterinarians, but rarely contests the unanesthetized toe cutting of commercial birds by poultry workers. Onychectomy is an operation to surgically remove the Claws, most often of a household Cat, though occasionally of other animals such as Circus Lions The critique is that much animal welfarism, in practice, is as prejudicial as an anthropocentric anti-welfarist view. Anthropocentrism (from Greek άνθρωπος anthropos, "human being" and κέντρον kentron, "center" Anthropos (the term

The movement is also open to criticism for targeting mostly those practices for cosmetic reasons, rather than ones of genuine welfare. For example, the debeaking of hens is unsightly, but is used to prevent cannibalism. Debeaking, also called beak trimming is the partial removal of the Beak of Poultry, especially Chickens and Turkeys Most commonly Welfarists though, often point out that there would be no cannibalism among the hens if they weren't kept in such stressful environments to begin with.

Regional differences

British-style animal welfare has an emphasis on avoiding pain even if this means killing the animal. For example, killing laying hens after a single laying season as a means of avoiding the discomfort of forced molting. In the U. S. , people often find this viewpoint shocking.

Urban/rural differences are also typical. People with a rural background see animals as a more complex and pervasive element of their lives. For example, when a farmer shoots a coyote to protect his chickens, the idea that the coyote's fur must be thrown away (due to anti-fur regulations) may seem not only arbitrary and wasteful, but also disrespectful to the coyote.

Animal welfare groups

See main article: List of animal welfare groups

See also

• Animal rights
• Cruelty to animals
• List of animal rights groups

References

External links

• US Library of Congress - Selected Internet Resources Animal Welfare, Companion Animals and Veterinary Science
• Humane Education Past, Present, and Future by Bernard Unti and Bill DeRosa, from The State of the Animals II: 2003 ISBN 0-9658942-7-4

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