Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Animal Cruelty - Who To Blame?, Fakhra Afzal

MSJ Capstone Projects

This piece on animals is a journalistic work where on field situation and visits are recorded coupled with interviews from the sources. It must be noted that the animal lives in a deplorable state in Pakistan, so much so, that there are no fresh legislation since the country gained independence from Britishers in 1947.The same goes true for the state of animal hospitals. Richmond Crawford is the only government run hospital in the metropolis Karachi and the private hospitals are suitable for pet owners only, in a position to go an extra mile to spend money on their imported pets. …

Measuring Humaneness: Can It Be Done, And What Does It Mean If It Can?, John Hadidian, Bernard Unti, John Griffin

Bernard Unti, PhD

Differences over what constitutes humaneness in the control of wildlife have traditionally presented a roadblock to understanding, not to mention agreement, between animal welfare and wildlife damage management professionals. Complaints that a proposed action or given program is not humane can refer to everything from specific techniques to broader administrative justifications. A number of concepts have been used to describe welfare standards and measurements, and different assessment metrics have been developed in attempts to bring objectivity to what might prove, in the end, to be an intractably subjective domain. Some of the most widely used and serviceable of the concepts …

Measuring Humaneness: Can It Be Done, And What Does It Mean If It Can?, John Hadidian, Bernard Unti, John Griffin

John Hadidian, PhD

Differences over what constitutes humaneness in the control of wildlife have traditionally presented a roadblock to understanding, not to mention agreement, between animal welfare and wildlife damage management professionals. Complaints that a proposed action or given program is not humane can refer to everything from specific techniques to broader administrative justifications. A number of concepts have been used to describe welfare standards and measurements, and different assessment metrics have been developed in attempts to bring objectivity to what might prove, in the end, to be an intractably subjective domain. Some of the most widely used and serviceable of the concepts …

Refining The Precautionary Framework, Jonathan Birch

Animal Sentience

Most of the commentators so far agree that the precautionary principle can be usefully applied to the question of animal sentience. I consider various ways of refining my proposals in light of the suggestions. I amend BAR to implement C. Brown’s suggestion that the scope of animal welfare law should be extensible by phylogenetic inference from orders in which credible indicators of sentience are found. In response to C. Brown, Mallatt, and Woodruff, I amend ACT to allow that a single credible indicator may sometimes call for urgent further investigation rather than immediate protection. In response …

Aquatic Animals, Cognitive Ethology, And Ethics: Questions About Sentience And Other Troubling Issues That Lurk In Turbid Water, Marc Bekoff

Marc Bekoff, PhD

In this general, strongly pro-animal, and somewhat utopian and personal essay, I argue that we owe aquatic animals respect and moral consideration just as we owe respect and moral consideration to all other animal beings, regardless of the taxonomic group to which they belong. In many ways it is more difficult to convince some people of our ethical obligations to numerous aquatic animals because we do not identify or empathize with them as we do with animals with whom we are more familiar or to whom we are more closely related, including those species (usually terrestrial) to whom we refer …

What Does The Child Protection Movement Teach Us About The Role Of The Mandated Reporter Of Abuse?, Bill C. Henry

Animal Sentience

Requiring veterinarians to report suspected animal abuse faces many of the same issues, concerns and hurdles once faced by the child protection movement. The history of child protection may hence provide a strategic model for progress in animal protection. Being able to anticipate the hurdles will help prepare us to overcome them.

A Social History Of Postwar Animal Protection, Bernard Unti, Andrew N. Rowan

Bernard Unti, PhD

After World War II, the animal protection movement enjoyed the revival that we discuss in this chapter. Contemporary scholarship suggests that social movements are more or less continuous, shifting from periods of peak activity to those of relative decline. The renaissance of animal protection during the past half century involved several distinct phases of evolution. Such divisions are discretionary, but they can clarify important trends. This analysis relies on a three-stage chronology in considering the progress of postwar animal protection, one that emphasizes revival, mobilization and transformation, and consolidation of gains.

Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian, Sydney Smith

John Hadidian, PhD

Despite the potential for difficulty, there are several reasons why urban wildlife should be valued and better understood. First is its scientific and heuristic value. Urban wildlife populations are essentially parts of ongoing natural experiments in adaptation to anthropogenic stress. How urban animals are affected by human activities— and how they cope with them— can represent, on a highly accelerated scale, a model of what is happening to species in other biomes. No other wild animals live in such intimate contact and under such constant constraint from human activities as do synanthropes. Second, urban animals are exposed to many environmental …

Urban Wildlife Control: It Starts In Our Own Backyard, John Hadidian

John Hadidian, PhD

No abstract provided.

Measuring Humaneness: Can It Be Done, And What Does It Mean If It Can?, John Hadidian, Bernard Unti, John Griffin

Humane Treatment of Animals Collection

Differences over what constitutes humaneness in the control of wildlife have traditionally presented a roadblock to understanding, not to mention agreement, between animal welfare and wildlife damage management professionals. Complaints that a proposed action or given program is not humane can refer to everything from specific techniques to broader administrative justifications. A number of concepts have been used to describe welfare standards and measurements, and different assessment metrics have been developed in attempts to bring objectivity to what might prove, in the end, to be an intractably subjective domain. Some of the most widely used and serviceable of the concepts …

What Is New On The Animal Protection Radar?, John Hadidian

Animal Welfare Collection

American attitudes toward wildlife have often been cast as falling within an urban/rural dichotomy that separates protectionist from utilitarian value orientations. Long held as a major challenge to wildlife managers the urban/rural dichotomy may be yielding to change as new attitude and value orientations arise from direct conflicts people have with wild animals as well as from a generational disenfranchisement of young people who lack direct experience with the outdoors. Both may loom as larger challenges for the future and shift the focus of once opposing interests more toward efforts to establish cooperation. Currently, much of the disagreement over wildlife …

Increasing Our Compassion Footprint: The Animals’ Manifesto, Marc Bekoff

Human and Animal Bonding Collection

Our relationships with animals are wide-ranging. When people tell me that they love animals and then harm or kill them I tell them I’m glad they don’t love me. Many individuals, including scientists, ignore their responsibility when they interact with animals and fail to recognize that doing something in the name of science, which usually means in the name of humans, is not an adequate reason for intentionally causing suffering, pain, or death. “Good welfare” usually is not “good enough.” Existing regulations allow animals to be treated in regrettable ways that demean us as a species. Compassion is the key …

The Role Of Economics In Achieving Welfare Gains For Animals, Jennifer Fearing, Gaverick Matheny

State of the Animals 2007

The demand for animal products and services is a powerful economic force in society, and multibillion-dollar industries are organized around this demand. These industries often face increased costs by improving animal welfare and are quick to use economic arguments against proposed welfare reforms (see sidebar on page 169). These arguments, while often specious, can influence consumers, voters, and policy makers. Citizens are less likely to support animal welfare reforms they’ve been told will double their shopping bill or impoverish family farmers.

Animal welfare advocates cannot respond to these economic arguments with moral rhetoric alone. Instead, non-governmental observers (NGOs) must challenge …

The Steady State Economy, Habitat Stability, And The Humane Treatment Of Wild Animals, Brian Czech

State of the Animals 2007

Economic growth is not intended to kill, torture, or harass animals, and in that respect is not as detestable as various other forms of inhumanity. Yet economic growth is surely the greatest of all forms of inhumanity in terms of the gross amount of wild animal suffering that results. Therefore, for those concerned with the humane treatment of wild animals, perhaps nothing is so important to address as the policy and process of economic growth.

Canada’S Commercial Seal Hunt, Rebecca Aldsworth, Stephen Harris

State of the Animals 2007

Like efforts to end the commercial hunting of whales, the campaign to stop the slaughter of seals in Canada has become a major focus for animal and environment protection groups and governments the world over. For decades the face of the harp seal pup has been a symbol—to many, the symbol—of environment and animal advocacy. But as much as the campaign to save the seals has become an icon for those who would protect wildlife, the campaign to continue the hunt has become a focus for those who would block the progress of the animal protection and environmental movements.

Aquatic Animals, Cognitive Ethology, And Ethics: Questions About Sentience And Other Troubling Issues That Lurk In Turbid Water, Marc Bekoff

Sentience Collection

In this general, strongly pro-animal, and somewhat utopian and personal essay, I argue that we owe aquatic animals respect and moral consideration just as we owe respect and moral consideration to all other animal beings, regardless of the taxonomic group to which they belong. In many ways it is more difficult to convince some people of our ethical obligations to numerous aquatic animals because we do not identify or empathize with them as we do with animals with whom we are more familiar or to whom we are more closely related, including those species (usually terrestrial) to whom we refer …

International Animal Law, With A Concentration On Latin America, Asia, And Africa, Neil Trent, Stephanie Edwards, Jennifer Felt, Kelly O'Meara

State of the Animals 2005

The status of domestic animal protection laws in Asia, Africa, and Latin America varies, as one might imagine, from country to country. Countries with high per capita incomes are more likely to have a large number of animal protection organizations, whose existence normally leads to the passage of protective legislation.1 The sociopolitical, cultural, and religious backgrounds of each country, as well as previous colonization, also influence whether it has animal protection legislation and whether these laws are enforced. Previous colonization is the case in many former British colonies, which often have very good laws but neither the means nor the …

Progress In Animal Legislation: Measurement And Assessment, Andrew N. Rowan, Beth Rosen

State of the Animals 2005

As the animal movement has gained more political authority and public acceptance, it needs better ways to assess and follow its progress—or lack thereof—towards its goals. In this era, in which nonprofits and funding agencies are demanding better measures of effectiveness, the animal movement needs to examine how it looks at the progress it is (or is not) making in gaining better legal protection for animals.

A Strategic Review Of International Animal Protection, Paul G. Irwin

State of the Animals 2003

The level of animal protection activity varies substantially around the world. To some extent, the variation parallels the level of economic development, as countries with high per capita incomes and democratic political structures have better financed and better developed animal protection organizations. However there is not a one-to-one correlation between economic development and animal protection activity. Japan and Saudi Arabia, for example, have high per capita incomes but low or nonexistent levels of animal protection activity, while India has a relatively low per capita income but a fairly large number of animal protection groups.

The Evolution Of Animal Law Since 1950, Steven M. Wise

State of the Animals 2003

Over the last half century, the law has assumed an increasingly important place in animal protection even as it has begun to point in the direction of true legal rights for at least some nonhuman animals. In this chapter I briefly discuss five aspects of the law: anti-cruelty statutes; the necessity of obtaining standing to litigate on behalf of the interests of nonhuman animals; evolving protections for great apes; the movement toward legal rights for at least some nonhuman animals; and the state of legal education concerning animal protection.

The State Of Wild Animals In The Minds And Households Of A Neotropical Society: The Costa Rican Case Study, Carlos Drews

State of the Animals 2003

The study of attitudes in a society provides insight into variables that may be pertinent to people’s everyday decisions and practices involving animals. This essay addresses the relationship between attitudes, knowledge, and behavior in the context of the protection of wild animals in the Neotropics and ventures to draw some conclusions about the state of wild animals from this perspective. The Neotropics, a biogeographical region that extends from the Yucatan peninsula to the southern tip of South America, includes some of the most biodiverse countries of the world. Its nations share a common history of Iberian colonization but are nonetheless …

The Quality Of Mercy: Organized Animal Protection In The United States 1866-1930, Bernard Unti

Animal Welfare Collection

Historians have largely neglected the animal protection movement, despite its unique accomplishments and its relationship to other reform efforts. While humane advocates in the pre-World War U era rarely transcended anthropocentrism, they launched significant initiatives to extend ethical concern beyond the species barrier. From 1866 onward, they waged campaigns against cruelty to animals in transportation, slaughter, education, entertainment, science, recreation, municipal animal control, and food and fur production.

This study situates organized concern for animals in relation to other post-Civil War reforms--including temperance and child protection. It explains the rise of humane work in light of antebellum trends in law, …

Urban Wildlife Control: It Starts In Our Own Backyard, John Hadidian

Conservation Collection

No abstract provided.

Social Attitudes And Animals, Harold Herzog, Andrew N. Rowan, Daniel Kossow

State of the Animals 2001

This chapter is an overview of the attitudes of Americans toward the treatment and moral status of nonhuman animals. We discuss problems of attitude assessment, the social psychology of attitudes toward animals, and the complex relationship between attitudes and behavior. We also review changes in attitudes toward animals over the past fifty years and current public opinion regarding a variety of issues related to animal welfare.

Animal Research: A Review Of Developments, 1950–2000, Andrew N. Rowan, Franklin M. Loew

State of the Animals 2001

The third phase of the animal research debate started around 1950. After World War II the government became a major sponsor of scientific research, including biomedical research. The budget of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) grew dramatically and has continued to grow, with a few minor retrenchment periods, up to the present time (see Figure 1). This growth led to an enormous expansion in publicly funded research. In the private sector, the discovery of penicillin and streptomycin led to a tremendous expansion in pharmaceutical research and in the size of the prescription drug industry. These expansions in government funding …

A Social History Of Postwar Animal Protection, Bernard Unti, Andrew N. Rowan

State of the Animals 2001

After World War II, the animal protection movement enjoyed the revival that we discuss in this chapter. Contemporary scholarship suggests that social movements are more or less continuous, shifting from periods of peak activity to those of relative decline. The renaissance of animal protection during the past half century involved several distinct phases of evolution. Such divisions are discretionary, but they can clarify important trends. This analysis relies on a three-stage chronology in considering the progress of postwar animal protection, one that emphasizes revival, mobilization and transformation, and consolidation of gains.

Urban Wildlife, John Hadidian, Sydney Smith

State of the Animals 2001

Despite the potential for difficulty, there are several reasons why urban wildlife should be valued and better understood. First is its scientific and heuristic value. Urban wildlife populations are essentially parts of ongoing natural experiments in adaptation to anthropogenic stress. How urban animals are affected by human activities— and how they cope with them— can represent, on a highly accelerated scale, a model of what is happening to species in other biomes. No other wild animals live in such intimate contact and under such constant constraint from human activities as do synanthropes. Second, urban animals are exposed to many environmental …

Overview: The State Of Animals In 2001, Paul G. Irwin

State of the Animals 2001

From the animals’ perspective, the past half-century has not been one of uninterrupted progress. Indeed, as some conditions have improved, others have remained frustratingly unchanged, and still others have undoubtedly deteriorated.

How then to assess progress and failure? In the absence of a universally accepted, consistently applied set of standards for data collection and analysis, any attempt to answer the question, What is the state of animals in 2001?, must be based on a series of snapshots, an accumulation of statistics from which we can draw conclusions.

Animal Protection In A World Dominated By The World Trade Organization, Leesteffy Jenkins, Robert Stumberg

State of the Animals 2001

Animal issues are playing a crucial role in making the World Trade Organization (WTO), the international body responsible for initiating and enforcing global trade rules, publicly visible. Current WTO rules prohibit the types of enforcement mechanisms relied upon by sovereign nations to make animal protection initiatives effective; as a result, many animal protection measures in this country and abroad have been reversed or stymied in the face of WTO challenges or threatened challenges. The WTO’s adverse impact on animal protection is one of the reasons why the WTO’s new-found public image is increasingly a negative one.

Bringing Us Together, John W. Grandy

Animal Welfare Collection

In recent years, much has been made of the differences between animal protection/welfare/rights and conservation. In simplistic terms, the difference is said to be between a view of wild animals as individuals and as populations. Some conservationists claim to see it as a waste to devote time and energy to ensuring the survival and health of individual animals. Conversely, others seem to take the view that the health and welfare of the individual animal is of highest importance.

But like many other discussions based on philosophical differences between largely compatible philosophies, the differences are far more apparent than real-and differences …