Module 1

Animal welfare introduction

 Summary of content
• Science, ethics and law

• Mental, physical and natural welfare

• Concept of needs

• Welfare and death

• Anthropomorphism
 Learning objectives
• To appreciate the difference between welfare
science, ethics and law
• To understand the 3 different concepts (physical,
mental and natural) included in various welfare
definitions
• To introduce the concepts of needs
• To understand the relationship between death and
welfare
• To understand the role of anthropomorphism
 What is the welfare of
the following cats?

 A pet cat that has an infected wound - Owners

noticed a problem two weeks ago but failed to take
the cat for veterinary treatment
 A pet cat that has an infected wound - The cat had
been missing for two weeks but when it returned the
owners took it for veterinary treatment
 Welfare of animals versus human care

 Both cats have the same welfare status

 Welfare science shows no difference

 Different human care

 Owners have different moral behaviour

 Ethics not science

 Science, Ethics and Law
• Welfare science considers effects of humans
on the animal from the animal’s point of view

• Welfare ethics considers human actions

towards animals

• Welfare legislation considers how humans

must treat animals
 Concepts in Animal Welfare:
Science, ethics and law
• All three aspects are important for welfare
• The Concepts in Animal Welfare presentations cover
different aspects:
– Some presentations focus on 1 aspect e.g.:
• Science : physiological indicators
• Ethics : introduction to ethics
• Law : protection legislation
– Other presentations cover all 3 aspects e.g.:
• Farm animal husbandry
• Euthanasia
 What is the welfare status of the
following dog?
During routine vaccination, a vet observes a small but
aggressive malignant tumour in the mouth of a dog (the
tumour has spread to the local lymph nodes)

•Current
 Physical status - abnormality

 Mental status - fine

Future
 Physical status - spread to lungs, etc.

 Mental status - pain, discomfort

 Two animal welfare concepts

Physical Mental

Early tumours Fear

Early infections Anxiety
Clinical disease
Injury
 Three animal welfare concepts

Physical Mental

Naturalness
Restrict natural
behaviour
 Example of issues affecting physical /
mental welfare and naturalness
• Restricting sows to stalls
• Naturalness:
–Restriction of oral and social
behaviour
• Physical:
–Mouth injuries from bar biting
• Mental:
–Frustration?
–Pain from mouth injuries
 Three welfare definitions

 Physical status (fitness)

 Mental status (feelings)

 “Naturalness” (telos)
 Physical status

 “Welfare defines the state of an animal as

regards its attempts to cope with its
environment.” (Fraser & Broom, 1990)
 “I suggest that an animal is in a poor state of
welfare only when physiological systems are
disturbed to the point that survival or
reproduction are impaired.” (McGlone, 1993)
 Mental status

 “...neither health nor lack of stress nor

fitness is necessary and/or sufficient to
conclude that an animal has good
welfare. Welfare is dependent upon
what animals feel.” (Duncan, 1993)
 “Naturalness”

 “Not only will welfare mean control of pain

and suffering, it will also entail nurturing and
fulfilment of the animals’ nature, which I call
telos.” (Rollin, 1993)
Relationship between the three definitions
 Combined definition

• Some definitions combine two or three

aspects
• For example : Five Freedoms
– Freedom from hunger and thirst
– Freedom from discomfort
– Freedom from pain, injury and disease
– Freedom to express normal behaviour
– Freedom from fear and distress
 The concept of needs
• Need: a requirement, fundamental in the biology of
the animal, to obtain a particular resource or respond
to a particular environmental or bodily stimulus
(Broom & Johnson, 1993)
• If a need is not provided for then there will be an
effect on physiology or behaviour, i.e. observation of
a physiological effect that can be linked to the
absence of a certain resource is an indication of lack
of human care
 Hierarchy of needs

•Some needs may be more important than others

•Provision of food and water is a fundamental need

•Provision of a comfortable lying area may be less

fundamental

Life-sustaining > Health-sustaining > Comfort-

sustaining (Hurnik & Lehman, 1985)
 Needs: e.g. legislation
•“the owner and keeper of the animals shall
have regard to … their physiological and
ethological (behaviour) needs in accordance
with established experience and scientific
knowledge”

European Convention for the Protection of Animals kept

for Farming Purposes (1976)
 Welfare versus death

• Welfare concerns the quality of animal life

• Death affects the quantity of animal life

Quality and quantity of life may be ethical concerns

 When is death relevant to
welfare?
• The manner of death is relevant

– e.g. method of slaughter is important

• High death rates can indicate poor welfare conditions

– Poor husbandry conditions can cause disease and death

 Should we assign human
attributes to animals?
• Humans are animals with similar biology
• However, each type of animal has different
behavioural needs
• Using a ‘human-based’ assessment may be a
useful first step
• This assessment must be qualified with the
individual animal’s needs
 Conclusions / Summary
• It is important to distinguish between the various
components of animal welfare:
– Welfare science, ethics and legislation

• Animal welfare definitions are derived from three

basic concepts (physical, mental and natural)
 Further reading
• APPLEBY, M.C. and HUGHES, B.O., 1997: Animal Welfare. CAB
International ISBN 0851991807
• BEAUCHAMP, T.L. and CHILDRESS, J.F., 1994: Principles of
Biomedical Ethics (4th Ed.) Oxford University Press ISBN
0195143329
• BROOM, D.M. and JOHNSON, K.G., 1993: Stress and Animal
Welfare. Chapman and Hall ISBN 0412395800
• DAWKINS, M.S., 1998: Through our eyes only? A Journey into
Animal Consciousness. Oxford University Press ISBN
0198503202
• MANNING, A.N. and DAWKINS, M.S., 1998: An Introduction into
Animal Behaviour (5th Ed.) Cambridge University Press ISBN
0521578914
• ROLLIN, B.E., 1999: An Introduction to Veterinary Ethics: Theory
and Cases. Iowa State University Press ISBN 0813816599
• WEBSTER, A.J.F., 1995: Animal Welfare: A cool eye towards
Eden. Blackwell ISBN 0632039280