Tourism and Animal Welfare

Abstract

Millions of animals are used annually in the tourism industry as captives for display and entertainment, as porters and carriers, as quarry to be hunted and fished, as well as for purposes of competition and sport. This paper investigates the extent to which the welfare of animals is considered in tourism, both in theory and practice. The paper broadly examines the concept of welfare from an interdisciplinary standpoint, including how it is defined and measured, the importance of sentience, pain and suffering in understanding welfare, and methods of enhancing animal welfare. The paper expands on animal welfare as it applies to tourism scholarship and tourism industry practice. Zoos and sled-dog tourism are examples used to illustrate animal welfare challenges in tourism, and a number of key questions are included in an effort to move the tourism and animal welfare agenda forward.

Situating animal ethics in Thai elephant tourism

“…Animal welfare ethics belong to weak anthropocentrism. Animal welfare recognises the moral status of animals but does not reject the use of animals for the benefit of humans: for instance, using animals in scientific experiments, raising animals for food and hunting animals (Fennell, ). However, in the process of using animals, the well‐being of animals must be considered, implying that their basic needs must be met and their suffering should be minimised (Spedding, ).…”

Exploring the boundaries of a new moral order for tourism's global code of ethics: an opinion piece on the position of animals in the tourism industry

“…It is important to recognise that the Brooke is an organisation that promotes proper welfare in the use of animals for tourism. This perspective advocates the use of animals in tourism as long as the welfare of these animals is properly taken into consideration (Fennell, 2013b). Welfare considerations as determined by the UK Farm Animal Welfare Council include: freedom from thirst and hunger; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury and disease; freedom to express normal behaviour; and freedom from fear and distress (Farm Animal Welfare Council, 2009).…”

An eco-feminist perspective on the co-existence of different views of seals in leisure activities

“…Regarding the animal welfare component and in order to better capture aspects relative to the ethical treatment of animals, the animal wellbeing principle can be included. Although similar to the animal welfare concept, the wellbeing concept intends to highlight aspects such as the psychological perception of happiness and meaningfulness experienced by animals (Fennell 2013a). …”