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Bridging the Divide Between Science and Animal Ethics

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Bridging the Divide Between Science and Animal Ethics Centre for Peace Studies Bridging the divide between science and animal ethics The morality of industrial animal farming with regards to animal welfare — Sarah Thubron Master’s thesis in Peace and Conflict Transformation, Spring 2017 Bridging the divide between science and animal ethics: The morality of industrial animal farming with regards to animal welfare Sarah Thubron ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisor Jarle Weigård for all of the feedback and helpful advice. Thanks to Will Stock for providing the seemingly endless proof reads, for acting as a desperately needed social barrier and for ensuring a steady supply of tea, insults and useless information. I would also like to thank my parents for all of the chocolate and snacks that fuelled this thesis… Lastly, thanks to Richard Thubron for listening and responding in a way that reminded me why this is all worth it. i ABSTRACT Current debates regarding animal rights and ethics tend to remain separated from the relevant science and scientific evidence. The aim of this thesis is to therefore help fill this gap by bringing together moral philosophy and the scientific study of animal welfare in the context of industrial animal farming. Although the facts and research exist, they have so far mostly remained independent of the ethical questions industrial animal farming raises. Discussion will draw upon empirical studies and scientific theory to debate the three main areas of evolutionary closeness, pain and physical discomfort, and psychological suffering to demonstrate how the conditions and practises in industrial farming affect animal welfare. The evidence presented regarding whether animals suffer in industrial conditions is used to conclude that it is not morally acceptable to continue to industrially farm animals. The impacts of industrial animal farming upon the environment, human health, violence and animal welfare additionally demonstrate that this system is of significant relevance to the field of peace studies. ii Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. i ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... ii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................... 1 1.1 Thesis aims .................................................................................................................... 2 1.2 Method ......................................................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research questions ........................................................................................................ 4 CHAPTER 2: PHILOSOPHICAL CONTEXT.......................................................................................... 4 2.1 Background to animal ethics........................................................................................... 4 2.2 Merging science and animal ethics.................................................................................. 6 2.3 Criteria for judgements .................................................................................................. 9 CHAPTER 3: BACKGROUND TO IAF .............................................................................................. 11 3.1 Industrial animal farming (IAF)...................................................................................... 11 3.1.1 Chickens .............................................................................................................. 13 3.1.2 Cows.................................................................................................................... 14 3.1.3 Pigs...................................................................................................................... 15 3.2 Effects of IAF ............................................................................................................... 16 3.2.1 Environment ........................................................................................................ 16 3.2.2 Health .................................................................................................................. 17 CHAPTER 4: PEACE RELEVANCE................................................................................................... 18 4.1 Achieving peace........................................................................................................... 18 4.2 Structural violence ....................................................................................................... 20 CHAPTER 5: EVOLUTION ............................................................................................................. 22 5.1 Evolution and common ancestors ................................................................................. 22 5.2 Discontinuous mind ..................................................................................................... 23 5.3 Mediocrity of man ....................................................................................................... 26 5.4 Limitations .................................................................................................................. 28 5.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................... 30 CHAPTER 6: BIOLOGY AND PHYSIOLOGY...................................................................................... 31 6.1 Pain ............................................................................................................................ 31 6.2 Mutilations .................................................................................................................. 32 6.2.1 Castration ............................................................................................................ 33 6.2.2 Tail Docking.......................................................................................................... 36 6.2.3 Beak Trimming ..................................................................................................... 38 6.3 The slaughter process .................................................................................................. 40 iii 6.3.1 Slaughter ............................................................................................................. 41 6.3.2 Pre-stunning and religious slaughter ...................................................................... 43 6.4 Genetic engineering ..................................................................................................... 46 6.4.1 Yield .................................................................................................................... 46 6.5 Conclusion................................................................................................................... 49 CHAPTER 7: PSYCHOLOGY .......................................................................................................... 51 7.1 Emotions ..................................................................................................................... 51 7.1.1 Emotions in animals.............................................................................................. 52 7.1.2 Emotions and welfare in IAF .................................................................................. 54 7.1.3 Moral relevance of emotions................................................................................. 55 7.2 Cognition..................................................................................................................... 57 7.2.1 Intelligence .......................................................................................................... 58 7.2.2 Language ............................................................................................................. 60 7.2.3 Limitations of science in animal cognition .............................................................. 61 7.3 Consciousness ............................................................................................................. 63 7.3.1 Evidence of consciousness .................................................................................... 63 7.3.2 Can consciousness ever be determined? ................................................................ 65 7.4 Conclusion................................................................................................................... 68 CHAPTER 8: CONCLUSION .......................................................................................................... 69 REFERENCES ............................................................................................................................... 72 iv CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Industrial animal farming (IAF), also sometimes referred to as factory farming or confined animal feeding operations (CAFO), is the biggest cause of animal abuse in the world today. Conservative estimates propose that over 53 billion animals are intensively reared and killed for consumption each year with approximately 3,000 dying in slaughterhouses every second, not including marine animals (ADAPTT, n.d). The scale is so large that to achieve a comparable amount of death in humans we would have to kill the entire human population seven times over each year (based on the
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