Animal pleasure and its moral significance

Balcombe, Jonathan

doi:10.1016/j.applanim.2009.02.012

Cited by 110 publications

(87 citation statements)

References 59 publications

(59 reference statements)

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“…Many scientists and lay persons would share the view that the capacity for feelings, both positive and negative, is of central concern (Balcombe 2009). That animals should have a comparable level of sentience is essential to the validity of models of psychological and psychiatric disorder.…”

Section: Ethical Demand To Ease Human and Animal Sufferingmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s Special about the Ethical Challenges of Studying Disorders with Altered Brain Activity?

Cassaday

2014

Ethical Issues in Behavioral Neuroscience

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Where there is no viable alternative, studies of neuronal activity are conducted on animals. The use of animals, particularly for invasive studies of the brain, raises a number of ethical issues. Practical or normative ethics are enforced by legislation, in relation to the dominant welfare guidelines developed in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. Guidelines have typically been devised to cover all areas of biomedical research using animals in general, and thus lack any specific focus on neuroscience studies at the level of the ethics, although details of the specific welfare recommendations are different for invasive studies of the brain. Ethically, there is no necessary distinction between neuroscience and other biomedical research in that the brain is a final common path for suffering, irrespective of whether this involves any direct experience of pain. One exception arises in the case of in vitro studies, which are normally considered as an acceptable replacement for in vivo studies. However, to the extent sentience is possible, maintaining central nervous system tissue outside the body naturally raises ethical questions. Perhaps the most intractable challenge to the ethical use of animals in order to model neuronal disorder is presented by the logical impasse in the argument that the animal is similar enough to justify the validity of the experimental model, but sufficiently different in sentience and capacity for suffering, for the necessary experimental procedures to be permissible.

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Section: Ethical Demand To Ease Human and Animal Sufferingmentioning

confidence: 99%

What’s Special about the Ethical Challenges of Studying Disorders with Altered Brain Activity?

Cassaday

2014

Ethical Issues in Behavioral Neuroscience

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“…34 In recent years, evidence of the cognitive and emotional capacities of animals has grown, and it has become increasingly clear that they are conscious, experiential individuals. 35 In this context, common sense present in social ethics does not doubt that animals are capable of being bored 36 -a clear example is the criticism of sow stalls -and production systems are judged according to this knowledge. 25 Scientific ideology has rejected such evaluations as "anthropomorphic", however, as Rollin 25 and Balcombe 35 point out, a precise and scientific meaning can be given to terms such as "bored" when applied to animals.…”

Section: Welfare Of Pigs In Rustic and Technified Farmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…35 In this context, common sense present in social ethics does not doubt that animals are capable of being bored 36 -a clear example is the criticism of sow stalls -and production systems are judged according to this knowledge. 25 Scientific ideology has rejected such evaluations as "anthropomorphic", however, as Rollin 25 and Balcombe 35 point out, a precise and scientific meaning can be given to terms such as "bored" when applied to animals. On the other hand, many of the important questions about animal welfare arise when people, based on their daily understanding of animals, show concern about their affective states.…”

Section: Welfare Of Pigs In Rustic and Technified Farmsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The welfare of pigs in rustic and technified production systems using the Welfare Quality protocols of pigs in Mexico: Validity of indicators of animal welfare as part of the sustainability criteria of pig production systems

2017

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The Welfare Quality® (WQ) protocols have been developed as a tool for the assessment of farm animal welfare based on scientific evidence. Animal welfare (AW) is part of the sustainability criteria of livestock production. A study was carried out in four states of Central Mexico in seven rustic (rPS) and six technified (tPS) production systems using the WQ protocol with the objective of providing an initial approximation of the welfare of animals and to discuss the validity of indicators of AW. The results showed that the animals housed in rustic units presented better results in the Good Health category and with respect to the criterion expression of social behaviour, while the frequency of criteria concerning Positive emotional states was higher in animals in the technified units. In the changing context in which the farms operate, including changing agricultural policies, new environmental and food safety regulations, variability of climatic conditions, and volatility in prices of inputs and outputs, it is not only the attributes referring to productivity and efficiency that become relevant. It is concluded that the criteria related to the WQ principles of health and behaviour are sensitive to changes in the housing and management of pigs. The high occurrences of health and behaviour problems recorded in technified systems are an indicator of poor welfare.

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“…Balcombe (2009) starts from a hedonistic utilitarianism and argues: ''Pleasure has moral import for practises like factory farming and laboratory research, for it amplifies the moral burden of depriving animals the opportunity to lead fulfilling enjoying lives.'' From a similar normative perspective, Bradley (2009) states: ''There is no good reason to discount the badness of death for an animal.…”

Section: Longevity As a Precondition For Animal Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

“…It is a condition sine qua non to be able to feel and to experience positive feelings as something intrinsically good. Depriving an animal of a positive future harms it because positive welfare is taken away (Balcombe 2009). Consequently, this view considers lifespan as a relevant notion in the moral assessment of a practice of animal use because the duration of life directly influences the ability to have positive experiences.…”

Section: Longevity As a Precondition For Animal Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Longevity as an Animal Welfare Issue Applied to the Case of Foot Disorders in Dairy Cattle

Bruijnis

Meijboom

Stassen

2012

J Agric Environ Ethics

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In current dairy farming it is possible to run a profitable farm without having to adapt the system to the needs of dairy cows. In such systems the interests of the farmer and animals often diverge. Consequently, specific animal welfare problems occur. Foot disorders in dairy cattle are an illustrative example resulting from the specific methods of housing and management in current dairy farming. Foot disorders and the resulting lameness are considered the most important welfare problem in dairy farming. However, these foot disorders not only typify welfare problems related to certain housing systems, but they also lead to the premature culling of cows. The assessment of the impact of foot disorders on the welfare of dairy cows raised the question of whether premature culling affects animal welfare since it affects the longevity of a cow. We argue that this aspect of longevity is morally relevant as an animal welfare issue. In this paper we aim to explore whether longevity is both (a) a morally relevant aspect in the discussion on killing animals and (b) a constitutive element of animal welfare. In other words, we aim to explore whether longevity is an independent moral argument in an animal welfare discussion. We claim that longevity is not merely important as an indicator of animal welfare, but is also a constitutive element of animal welfare. We argue that we need a more integrated approach to animal welfare and that an assessment that includes the aspect of time is necessary. This view involves a shift from views on animal (2013( ) 26:191-205 DOI 10.1007 welfare in terms of functioning or feeling well to a view on animal welfare that includes the aspect of natural living in which species-specific development is important. To show the impact of these points of view, we look at the practical implications for choices concerning the management of foot disorders in dairy cattle.Environ Ethics

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Animal pleasure and its moral significance

Cited by 110 publications

References 59 publications

What’s Special about the Ethical Challenges of Studying Disorders with Altered Brain Activity?

What’s Special about the Ethical Challenges of Studying Disorders with Altered Brain Activity?

The welfare of pigs in rustic and technified production systems using the Welfare Quality protocols of pigs in Mexico: Validity of indicators of animal welfare as part of the sustainability criteria of pig production systems

Longevity as an Animal Welfare Issue Applied to the Case of Foot Disorders in Dairy Cattle

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