4 CHAPTER Animal Rights and Animal Welfare

Definition of Terms Animal welfare Animal rights Animals should be treated humanely Proponents support use for human purposes but with minimal discomfort Animal rights Animals should not be exploited Supporters feel it is ethically, morally, and inherently wrong to use animals for human purposes under any condition

Pioneers of Animal Rights Ruth Harrison Wrote Animal Machines: The New Factory Farming Industry Inspired laws for care/treatment of chickens, turkeys, pigs, cattle, sheep, rabbits (1964) Peter Singer Published Animal Liberation (1975) Considered founder of the modern animal rights movement

March for the Animals Washington, DC, rally by animal rights groups in 1990 From 15,000 to 24,000 people marched down Pennsylvania Avenue Signs read, “Animals Are Not for Wearing,” “Fur Is Dead,” and “Animals Have Rights, Too”

The Body of Liberties First U.S. laws enacted to protect farm animals from cruel treatment Passed by the Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1641

First Anticruelty Law “Every person who shall maliciously kill, maim, or wound any horse, ox, or other cattle, or sheep . . . or shall maliciously and cruelly beat or torture such animal . . . shall . . . be . . . guilty of a misdemeanor.” Passed by the New York Legislature in 1828

America’s First Humane Society Called the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) Formed in New York largely to safeguard disabled horses and mules and save them from abandonment Founded by Henry Bergh in 1866 Bergh drafted an act for “more effectual prevention” of animal cruelty in 1867

Humane Slaughter Act Designed to provide humane care and treatment for animals traveling to slaughter Originally passed in 1958, amended in the 1970s

Laboratory Animal Welfare Act (AWA) Initial version (1966): Regulated dog and cat dealers and labs using dogs, cats, hamsters, guinea pigs, rabbits, and primates First amendment (1970): Regulated use of other warm-blooded animals (not birds or rodents) for research, exhibition, or wholesale Second amendment (1985): Clarified “humane care,” defined painful practices, set up Animal Welfare Information Center (AWIC)

Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and Trade Act Included two provisions (1990) Injunctive relief: Authorized Secretary of Agriculture to stop licensed entity from violating the AWA while charges are pending Pet protection: Mandated the Secretary to issue additional regulations pertaining to “random-source” dogs and cats

U.S. Department of Agriculture Develops and implements regulations to support the AWA Set minimum standards for care and handling, housing, feeding, sanitation, ventilation, shelter from extreme weather, vet care, and species separation Currently exclude birds and lab rats and mice Require licensing of animal dealers, exhibitors, and operators of animal auctions

Horse Protection Act Protects horses and regulates horse show business Issue: Showing or sale of horses with gait altered by inducing leg pain Passed in 1970, amended in 1976

Animal Liberation Front (ALF) Animal rights group Acted through violence Damaged Oregon State University labs (1986) Set fire to University of California at Davis lab (1987) Struck Texas Tech research facility (1989)

Animal Enterprise Protection Act Protects facilities like farms, zoos, aquariums, circuses, rodeos, fairs, and auctions (1992) Imposes jail time for damaging an animal enterprise or injuring or killing a person during animal enterprise attack Amendment proposed to protect parties like loggers, miners, fishermen, farmers, trappers

Do Animals Have Rights? Animal rights activists Animals have the same rights as humans Wrong to use animals for food or experiments Animal welfare supporters Animals should be treated humanely and without cruelty Can use animals in research as long as animal care is humane

Should Animals Be Used as Food? Animal rights activists Modern farming is inhumane Eating meat is unhealthy Farmers In their interest to care for animals humanely, feed them well, and keep them free of diseases and ailment Could not stay in business with sick animals Meat, eggs, milk appropriate in diets

Should Experiments Use Animals? Animal rights activists Animal experimentation is unethical and unneeded, should use alternatives Value of animal research greatly exaggerated Research supporters Lack of research animals would limit or stop biomedical research, stop medical advances Number of animals used in testing declining Animals have contributed significantly to human health and well-being