1. Animal welfare introduction
Module 1
Animal welfare introduction

3. Summary of content Science, ethics and law
Mental, physical and natural welfare
Concept of needs
Welfare and death
Anthropomorphism

4. 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

5. 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
Is there a difference in the welfare of these two cats?
A scientific investigation (e.g. pain sensitivity, inflammatory response, weight loss) of the welfare state of the animal would not be able to identify a difference in the two cats i.e. a strict welfare assessment would show no difference.
However, the consideration / treatment shown by the humans is worse in the first cat, i.e. there is a difference in the human actions, not a difference in welfare.
The owners in the first case but not the second case could be guilty of causing ‘unnecessary suffering’.

6. 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
Both cats have a similar welfare status, when seen from the perspective of welfare science.
However, they have been subjected to different human care. This difference in human behaviour relates to ethics, not science.
This human behaviour is relevant for legislation, as laws can be passed to control cruel or irresponsible behaviour.

7. 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
It is important to recognise that the welfare debate inevitably includes all three elements.
Science attempts to quantify the effect on the animal in terms of physiological, behavioural and health measures, etc.
Ethics concerns human actions as it considers the morals of human behaviour. It covers how we currently treat animals, and how we ought to treat animals.
Legislation is a result of science and ethics, as it reflects society’s rules governing the use and treatment of animals.

8. 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

9. 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
Assume that the vet observes a small tumour and knows that it is a malignant tumour that will spread throughout the body.
There is a difference between the current and future welfare status of the dog.
At present there is a detectable physical abnormality (a mass in the mouth and tumour metastasis); however, the dog is not in pain or discomfort.
In the future the tumour will spread further and it will cause pain and discomfort.
We can therefore distinguish between the current and future welfare state and the physical and mental problems for the dog.

10. Two animal welfare concepts
Mental
Physical
Early tumours
Early infections
Fear
Anxiety
Clinical disease
Injury
Hence we can distinguish between welfare affecting the physical or mental state of animals. Conditions may affect the physical or mental state or both.
For example, mild early tumours or infections can lead to detectable physical problems for the dog without the dog having any mental problems.
Similarly, fear and anxiety during handling are mental states that an animal would choose to avoid. However, they may not necessarily be associated with any physical abnormality.
However, most clinical diseases and injuries induce both physical damage to the body and some degree of mental pain or discomfort.

11. Three animal welfare concepts
Mental
Physical
Naturalness
A third welfare concept concerns ‘naturalness’.
For example, a single chicken housed in a small cage but provided with food, water, perch, dust-bathing substrate, etc. may not have any mental or physical problems. However, some people would say that this is not ‘natural’ and therefore a welfare concern.
Hence there are three concepts of animal welfare that may or may not overlap with each other.
Restrict natural behaviour

12. 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
All three concepts may overlap.
Pigs in an ‘extensive/natural’ environment would spend over 70% of their time in rooting/oral behaviour and engage in complex social behaviours. However, pigs in stall husbandry systems (unable to turn around) often develop bar biting stereotypies (repeated behaviour that serves no purpose) probably because they cannot perform these oral behaviours. Repeated bar biting may cause physical injuries in the mouth which will also cause pain (mental state).

13. Three welfare definitions
Physical status (fitness)
Mental status (feelings)
“Naturalness” (telos)
These three welfare concepts can be translated into three broad definitions of welfare. Scientists working on animal welfare tend to reflect their own views on which aspect is important in their definition of welfare.
The definitions on the following slides are examples from each type. Further examples are given in the notes.

14. 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)
Fraser and Broom refer to how an animal copes with its environment. Coping (to be discussed later) is essentially a reflection of the physical condition of the animal.
McGlone seems to have a more extreme view that welfare is only poor when survival or reproduction are impaired by a physical problem.
Other examples:
(a)    “..the only defensible measurement of well-being in animals is to determine if the animal is suffering from stress. Furthermore, I believe that the most appropriate indicator of stress is the appearance of a pre-pathological state.” (Moberg, 1985)

15. 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)
For example, Duncan advocates that the mental state (feelings) is critical and that this is not necessarily related to health or fitness.
Other references:
(a)   “To be concerned about animal welfare is to be concerned with the subjective feelings of animals, particularly the unpleasant subjective feelings of suffering and pain.” (Dawkins, 1988)
(b)    “The question is not, can they reason? Nor, can they talk? But, can they suffer?” (Bentham, 1789)

16. “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)
Rollin recognises that mental states (pain & suffering) are relevant but that fulfilling nature (telos) is also relevant to welfare.
Other examples:
(a)    “In principle, we disapprove of a degree of confinement of an animal which necessarily frustrates most of the major activities which make up its natural behaviour..” (Brambell, 1965)
(b)   “If we believe in evolution… in order to avoid suffering, it is necessary over a period of time for the animal to perform all the behaviours in its repertoire because it is all functional…” (Kiley-Worthington, 1989)

17. Relationship between the three definitions
Natural
Behaviour
Mental
Suffering
Physical
Fitness
Whatever definition is used there is an undeniable link between all three concepts. Any significant compromise in one aspect tends to affect the other two.
It is therefore reasonable to take an holistic approach and consider all three elements.

18. 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
Some definitions combine two or three aspects (mental, physical or natural).
For example, the Five Freedoms have been advocated as important for welfare by many groups such as the Farm Animal Welfare Council, UK. These include all three elements:
Physical
injury , disease
Mental
hunger, thirst, discomfort, pain, fear and distress
Natural
to express normal behaviour
Other examples:
(a)    “The welfare of an animal is determined by its capacity to avoid suffering and sustain fitness.” (Webster, 1995)
(b)   “Animals flourish (i.e. fare well) when their physiological and psychological requirements for life are provided continuously and adverse factors are controlled or absent.” (Seamer, 1993)
(c)    “An animal’s welfare is compromised when its physiological health and/or its psychological well-being, in relation to its cognitive capacity, are affected negatively.” (Morton, 2000)

19. 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
‘Provision of needs’ is a term often used in discussions on welfare as needs will define what things should be provided to animals.
Needs may include a range of provisions such as food, water, comfort, avoidance of infectious disease and environmental enrichment.
For animals under our care it is a human ethical responsibility to provide for their needs.
Observing effects after withdrawal of needs indicates their relative importance.

20. 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)
Some scientists have suggested that some needs may be more important than others.
Withdrawal of food and water leads to significant physiological problems such as dehydration in the short term.
Lack of provision of comfort may lead to other problems such as lameness in dairy cows but these are longer-term changes, and could be lower on the hierarchy of an animal’s needs.
An animal’s needs may be classified, in terms of relative importance, into:
Life-sustaining needs, which must be met in order to survive
Health-sustaining needs, which include avoidance of disease and injury
Comfort-sustaining needs, which contribute to quality of life
However, the welfare of the animal will remain poor unless all these needs are met.

21. 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)
The concept of needs is often used in legislation.
To prove that someone is in violation of the type of legislation above, the evidence needs to show a link between the particular husbandry provision and a particular physiological or behavioural effect.

22. Quality and quantity of life may be ethical concerns
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
Welfare is a consideration of living, not dead animals.
Death is not a welfare issue in its own right (although it may indicate earlier poor welfare – details are given on the next slide).
Humans, in general, want to avoid poor welfare (quality of life) as well as a shortened life span (quantity).
The concern for life is not welfare - it is a different type of ethical concern.

23. 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
Although death itself is not a welfare issue, the manner of death is relevant. For example, the method of slaughter of food animals can either cause instantaneous death or pain/distress prior to death.
Also, animals reared in poor husbandry conditions are more likely to suffer disease and potentially death. Therefore, higher death rates may be an indicator of welfare conditions during life, so mortality rates are relevant to welfare.

24. 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
In the context of a discussion on animals, anthropomorphism is the attribution of human characteristics or behaviour to an animal.
Humans are a type of animal, and have very similar basic needs to other animals. However, as mentioned above, different types of animals have different behavioural needs, and need to be treated accordingly.
In trying to assess welfare, it is often a useful starting point to think about the animal’s needs in terms of our own needs – i.e. putting ourselves in the animal’s place and thinking about what we would need in a similar situation.
However, we must modify this according to their specific needs. Although we can use human needs as a starting point, we need to be critical of them in terms of the animal – does the animal also require fulfilment of these needs or are there others that a human does not require? This concept is called critical anthropomorphism.
For example, cattle need food, just like humans do, but they are herbivores, not omnivores, and the food that they are given must differ accordingly.

25. 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)

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