ANIMAL WELFARE Dedication
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ANIMAL WELFARE Dedication To those in the front line ANIMAL WELFARE COLIN SPEDDING EARTHSCAN London • New York First publishedin the UK in 2000 by EarthscanPublications Ltd Copyright CI Colin 5pedding,2000 All rights reserved A cataloguerecord for this book is availablefrom the British Library ISBN 978 I 85383 672 5 (pbk) ISBN 978 I 85383 671 8 (pbk) Typesettingby )5 Typesetting,Wellingborough , Northants Coverde sign by SusanneHa rris For a full list of publicationsplease contact: Earthscan 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Earthscan 711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017 Earlhscan is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business Earthscanpublishes in associationwith WWF-UK andthe International Institute for Environmentand Development Contents List of Tables vii List of Boxes Ix Preface xl Acknowledgements xiii Acronyms and AbbreviaHons xv Glossary xix Introduction 1 2 What is animal welfare and why doesit matter? 9 3 All animals - or only some? 31 4 The nature and scale of the welfare problem 45 5 The need for standards 69 6 Organizations concerned with an imal welfare 87 7 Achieving improvement 101 8 Action needed 117 9 Future welfare issues 137 10 Reflections, unifying themesand conclusions 155 Appendix I BFF and WSPA Recommendations 169 Appendix Z The Major Animal Welfare Organizations 171 References 177 Bibliography 183 Index 185 This page intentionally left blank List ofTabies 1.1 Characteristicrights and responsibilitiesof a citizen 5 1.2 Responsibilitiesof the citizen relating to animal welfare 5 2. [ The Five Freedoms II 2.2 In responseto the Five Freedoms [2 3.[ The main speciesof sentientanimals used 35 3.2 Animals usedfor work in agriculture 39 3.3 Animals usedfor sport, recreationand entertainment 4[ 4.[ UK and world farm livestock 46 4.2 Numbersof farm animalsslaughtered ann~ally in the world for meat 52 4.3 The main mutilations 57 4.4 Numbersof companionanimals in the UK 58 4.5 Zoosand circuses 60 4.6 Numbersof animals usedfor experimentsin the UK in [992 67 6.[ Advisory bodiesin Europe 89 6.2 Animals in needof rescue 89 6.3 UK chantiesengaged in rescueand rehabilitation 90 6.4 CUltural festivals involving cruelty 96 9.[ Medically-useful compoundsthat canbe producedby animals, geneticallyengineered and doned 143 This page intentionally left blank List of Boxes 2.1 Basic needsof animals 10 2.2 Discussionof the term 'Natural' 13 2.3 Discussionof the term 'Coping' 15 2.4 Hunger 16 2.5 Examples of welfare needsspecific to animal type 17 2.6 UK law on the protection of animals 23 2.7 Ethics 28 3.1 Fish farming 37 4.1 Battery cages for hens 48 4.2 Veal crates 50 4.3 PMU farms 50 4.4 Uvestock transponation in Europe 51 4.5 'Religious' slaughter 55 4.6 Puppy farming 59 5.1 Zoochosis 75 5.2 World Zoo Conservation Strategy 76 5.3 The Convention on lnternation al Trade in Endangered Species 78 6.1 Trapping 90 6.2 Concerns abom pest control 91 6.3 Pest control research 92 6.4 The need for sanctuaries 95 6.5 Education in animal welfare 98 7.1 EU Commission proposals on veal crates and sow stalls 105 7.2 Summa r y of FAWC recommendations concerning bauery cagesfor laying hens 107 8.1 The welfare of valuable animals 124 9.1 Feed conversion efficiency 141 9.2 Bovine somatotroph in 141 9.3 Passportsfor pets 150 This page intentionally left blank Preface Reviewingthe sufferingof animalsin the world canbe a depressing experience,but reviewingthe efforts madeby all thoseworking in the front line, to reducesuffering , eradicatecruelty, to rescue, treat andrehabilitate animals, is both impressiveand encouraging . I hope this book will help themby increasingpublic awarenessof both the problemsand their efforts to solve them. In talking to many different groups about ani.mal welfare, it becamevery clear that people who were closely involved with animals generallygot usedto what they were doing but that this often looked very different to those not so involved. And this was true independentof whether the animals were farm livestock, laboratoryanimals, show animals, petsor animalsused for sportor entertainment. Thoseinvolved generallybelieve that they are caring for their animals, but often with little knowledgeof their welfare needsand how they shouldbe kept. Much poor welfare - andev en cruelty - is causedby ignorance or simply thoughtlessness:so awarenessneeds encouragement. All this led me to theview that, whateverone 's own involvement, it is helpful to think about the welfare of other animals, kept for otherpurposes by otherpeople . I havewritten this book in the hopethat a wider view will help to clarify our own responsibilitiesas animalkeepers and ascitizens, and result in greatersupport for thosein the front line. This page intentionally left blank Acknowledgements I am greatly indebtedto the many animal welfare organizationsfor the unstinting help that they have provided in the preparationof this book. Nearly all the organizationslisted in Table 6.3 and in Appendix 2 have gone to a greatdeal of trouble to sendme information, not only about their aims, objectivesand activities but their views on what are the major issuesnow and for the future. I had to resistthe temptationto describeaU their impressivework in detail: this was not feasible,but it deservesto be betterknown and I hopethat the organizationswill receive ever-increasingsupport from the public. I am also greatly indebtedto my secretary, Mrs Mary Jones, for all her help at all stagesof writing and seeingthe book through[0 completion. This page intentionally left blank Acronyms and Abbreviations AHA American Humane Association AHT Animal Health Trust AI Artificial insemination ACT Animal Care Trust ANZCCART Australia and New Zealand Council for the Care of Animals in Researchand Teaching APC Animal ProceduresCommittee ASPCA American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals AWA Animal Welfare Act (USA) AWAC Animal Welfare Advisory Committee (New Zealand) BDH Battersea DogsHome BFF Born Free Foundation BSE Bovine spongiform encephalopathy BST Bovine somatotrophin BVA British Veterinary Association CAP Common Agricultural Policy CAWC Companion Animal Welfare Council CFHS Canadian Federation of Humane Societies CITES Convention on Interll2tional Tn.de in Endangered Species CIWF Compassionin World Farming CT Computed Tomography DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid DSPA Dutch Societyfor the Protection of Animals EC European Commission EEC European Economic Community EHPPS EssexHorse and Pony Protection Society xvi ACRONYMS A ND AHHREV IAll0NS ET Embryo Transfer EU EuropeanUnion FASS Federationof Animal ScienceSocieties FAWAC FarmAnimal Welfare Advisory Committee FAWC Farm Animal Welfare Council FCE Food ConvenionEfficiency FDR FederalDemocratic Republic (Germany) FRAME Fund for the Replacementof Animals in Medical Experiments GAIT GeneralAgreement on Tariffs and Trade HRT HormoneReplacement Therapy HSA HumaneSlaughter Association HSUS HumaneSociety of the United States IFAW InternationalFund for Animal Welfare ISO InternationalOrganization for Standardization Committee IUCN InternationalUnion for the Conservationof Nature ruOZG InternationalUnion of Directorsof Zoological Gardens LD ~ Lethal Dose50 MAFF Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheriesand Food MRI Magnetic ResonanceImaging MSPCA MassachusettsSociety for the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals NAEAC National Animal Ethics Advisory Committee(New Zealand) NCOL National CanineDefence League NVBO Ned Ver tot Beschermingvan Dieren POSA People's Dispensaryfor Sick Animals PMS PregnantMare Serum PMU PregnantMare Urine RCO Rabbit Calcivirus Disease ROS ResearchDefence Society RNZSPCA Royal New Zealand Societyfor the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals RSPCA Royal Societyfor the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals RVCACf Royal VeterinaryCollege Animal CareTrust SPANA Societyfor the Protectionof Animals Abroad sse Captive BreedingSpecialist Group of IVCN A<'RONYMS A]'I;O AlI BREVIAnONS xvii SSPCA ScottishSociety for the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals S1'5 SchweizerTierschutz TB Tuberculosis UFAW UniversitiesFederation for Animal Welfare UKEG UK ElephantGroup UKXIRA United Kingdom XenotransplantationInterim RegulatoryAuthority USAMRICD United StatesArmy Medical ResearchInstitute of ChemicalDefense WAN World Animal Net WSPA World Societyfor the Protectionof Animals wro World TradeOrganization WZCS World Zoo ConservationStrategy This page intentionally left blank Glossary Arachnids Spidersand relatedanimals, characterized by possessing eight legs Bovine somatotrophin (BST) A hormoneinjected into cows to increasemilk output Cellulase An enzymefor digestingcellulose not normallypossessed by animals CetaceansMembers of the whale and dolphin family ehelonions An orderincluding tortoises, turtles and terrapins Cloning Duplicatinganimals or plantswithout sexualreproduction ConspecificsOther animals of the samespecies Coprophagia Eatingo nc's own faeces(called 'refection' in rabbits) Declawing Removalof claws(in birds, dew and pivot claws) Dtsplasia Displacememof the hip Oratze Test Standardtest for ophthalmicirritancy Dubbing Removalof all or part of the male comb(in poultry) Embryotransfer (ET) The transfer of an embryo from one female animal to another- whetherof the samespecies or not Hlnny Crossbetween a male horseand a female donkey In vitro Outsidethe live animal In vivo In the live animal :xx G LOSSARY LDSQ The dose level of a substancethat kills 50 per cent of the animalsdosed Monoclonalantibody An antibodyproduced artificially from a cell clone and thereforeconsisting