Animal Welfare and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Abstract

This paper systematically evaluates the extent to which achieving the UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) is compatible with improving animal welfare. The analyses were based on discussion and independent scoring in a group of 12 participants with academic backgrounds within agricultural or veterinary sciences. We considered all categories of animals; those kept for food production, working and companion animals, but also laboratory and wild animals. The strengths of the links between improving animal welfare and achieving an SDG were scored on a 7-point scale, from being completely indivisible, at one end of the scale, to where it is impossible to reach both the SDG and improved animal welfare at the same time. There was good consensus between participants, with the overall scores being positive, indicating that although animal welfare is not explicitly mentioned in the SDGs, working to achieving the SDGs is compatible with working to improve animal welfare. When analyzing the direction of the links, the impact of achieving an SDG was considered, on average, to be slightly better at leading to improved animal welfare, than the impact of improving animal welfare was on achieving the SDG. The exception to this was for SDG 2, dealing with zero hunger. The two SDGs for which there was strongest mutual reinforcing were SDG 12, which deals with responsible production and consumption, and SDG 14, which deals with life below water. Most of the targets under these two SDGs were considered relevant to animal welfare, whereas when all SDGs were considered, 66 targets of the total of 169 were considered relevant. Although the results of this study suggest a mutually beneficial relationship between improving animal welfare and achieving SDGs, this should be confirmed on a wider group of people, for example people from less developed countries and other stakeholders. Showing the relationships between animal welfare and the sustainable development goals helps highlight the importance of animal welfare when implementing these goals in practice. The methodology described in this study could also be useful to researchers working with other societal and environmental issues not yet considered within the overall SDG framework.

Human Relationships with Domestic and Other Animals: One Health, One Welfare, One Biology

“…A workshop called "Animal Welfare and the Sustainable Development Goals" in 2018 at the Swedish University of Agricultural Science had a group of 12 active participants, from eight countries, with an academic background in agricultural or veterinary science. They evaluated every goal and found that although animal welfare was not explicitly mentioned in the SDGs, working to achieve those goals is compatible with working the improvement of animal welfare [170].…”

COVID-19 Effects on Livestock Production: A One Welfare Issue

“…At first glance, animal welfare only applies to Goal 2 though even here it is not explicitly mentioned. However, a deeper examination of the SDG agenda revealed that out of 169 targets, 66 are relevant to animal welfare (145). More importantly, relationships between the SDGs and animal welfare were all positive, such that there was no situation where attainment of the SDG conflicted with improving or safeguarding animal welfare (145).…”

Punishment to Support: The Need to Align Animal Control Enforcement with the Human Social Justice Movement

“…There are substantial barriers to implementing animal control policies that promote One Health and One Welfare, including inherent biases regarding how and why individuals living in poverty may require additional support resources (e.g., they are just “lazy” and need to get a job so they can pay for their pet’s care on their own, rather than relying on government handouts); the animal welfare field’s historic commitment to a specific definition of “responsible pet ownership” that is driven by racism, classism, and the White dominant culture; an absence of strategies for engaging with marginalized populations in a culturally competent manner; over-policing in communities of color; lack of transparency and oversight in data regarding enforcement; lack of a concerted effort to address structural barriers to accessing pet support services; lack of animal control officer training to perform basic animal handling and zoonoses prevention tasks or in de-escalation strategies; and limited funding opportunities for projects aimed at achieving One Health and One Welfare outcomes [ 4 , 5 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 , 29 , 30 ]. Without identifying specific strategies for overcoming each of these barriers, the implicit bias that is present in animal control policy will continue, resulting in disproportionately negative impacts on the pet owners of color and their pets that live in low-income communities.…”