Animal Rights & WelfareChapter 4

Terms• Animal Rights

▫The position that animals should not be exploited

• Animal Welfare▫The position that animals

should be treated humanely• Confinement Systems

▫Animals are confined to cages or pens in partially enclosed or totally enclosed buildings so that production improves through closer control of the environment

Terms

• Ecoterrorism▫Terrorism or crimes

committed under the disguise of saving nature

• Factory Farming▫Practice of keeping

chickens in cages and veal calves in small crates

• Humanize▫To believe that animals

have the same rights as humans and to treat them as humans

Terms• Intensive Operations

▫ Farming operations in which the farmer or manager tries to increase output through better breeding, feeding and management

• Specieism▫ Belief that any use of animals by

humans reflects a bias or that humans are superior to animals

• Unethical▫ A belief that something is going

against one’s moral principles and values

Terms•Vivisection

▫Research consisting of surgical operations and experiments to study the structure and function of organs.

Current Topics In Animal Rights & Welfare• Animals as Property• Scientific testing• Animal Agriculture• Caged Animals• Entertainment Animals• Veganism• Factory Farming• Fish & Fishing• Vivisection• Hunting • Use of furs

Check It Out!•Animal rights vs Animal welfare has a

long history•Pgs 32-34

1641•First laws to protect farm animals•“The Body of Liberties”•Massachusetts bay colony

1828•First anticruelty lab passed by New York

•“Each person who shall maliciously kill, main, or wound any horse, ox, or other cattle, or sheep, belonging to another, or shall maliciously and cruelly beat or torture such animal whether belonging to himself or another, shall upon conviction, be adjudged guilty of a misdemeanor.”

1866•American Society for the Prevention of

Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA)•Formed for welfare of disabled horses•America’s first humane society•Founded by Henry Bergh

1867•“An Act for the more effectual prevention

of cruelty to animals.”•Ten sections•41 states and DC have laws based on it

1906•Animal Transportation Act

▫Protect animals traveling long distances by rail

•95% of animals today are transported by truck▫Law was never amended to include them

1958•Humane Slaughter Act•Amended in 1970s to include handling

prior to slaughter

1964• Ruth Harrison

▫Animal Machines: The New Factory Farming Industry

• Focused on the use of antibiotics & hormones• Investigation led to laws concerning treatment:

▫Chickens▫Turkeys▫Pigs▫Cattle▫Sheep▫Rabbits

1966• Public Law 89-544 (AWA)• Laboratory Animal Welfare Act• Regulated dealers who handled research:

▫Dogs▫Cats▫Hamsters▫Guinea Pigs▫Rabbits ▫Primates

• First amendment authorized regulation of other warm bloods

1970•Horse Protection Act•Regulates show business•Specific to gait alteration

1970s•It all began…•Modern Animal Rights Movement•Urban vegetarians•Draws activists from philosophy, theology,

and human rights

1970s•Peter Singer

▫Animal Liberation•Founder of modern animal rights

movement•Book condemned use of animals in food

and research

1976•Amendment to AWA prohibited animal

fighting•Regulated commercial transport

1985•Improved Standards for Laboratory

Animals Act▫Issued additional standards for research

animals▫Standards for dog exercise▫Physical environment standards

•Institutional Animal Care & Use Committees▫Minimal pain and distress▫Anesthetics, analgesics & tranquilizer use▫Consider alternative to painful procedures

1986•Animal Liberation Front•$$$$$ of damage at

Oregon State•Set fires at University of

California-Davis•Independence day attack

at Texas Tech

1989•Farm Animal and Research Facilities Protection

Act•Applied to premise where animals are kept for:

▫Food▫Ag Research▫Testing▫Education

•Federal crime to disrupt activities•$10,000 fine•Passed in August 1992

1990•“March for the Animals”•15-24,000 people

1990•Food, Agriculture, Conservation and

Trade Act▫Pet protection provisions

•Covers 4 institution categories▫Dogs & Cat breeders▫Zoos▫Circuses▫Research Facilities

1992•Animal Enterprise Protection Act•Protects:

▫Zoos▫Aquariums▫Circuses▫Rodeos▫Fairs▫Auctions▫Packing Plants ▫Commercial & Academic Enterprises

1997•Ecoterrorism•10,000 mink released

from a fur ranch•½ the animals died in

fighting each other•1,300 of the animals

recaptured would die later

Do Animals Have Rights?•Animal Rights

▫Same as humans▫Specieism▫Feel pain▫Humans are

animals

•Animal Welfare•Humanely

without cruelty•Should receive

proper care•Can be used in

research when alternatives are unavailable

Should animals be used for food?•Animal Rights

▫Inhumane▫Meat is

unhealthy▫Constant

housing▫Physiological

and behavioral problem

▫Large corporations who care about profits

• Animal Welfare• Best interest of

farmers to care for animals

• Intensive operations

• Confinement systems

• Protection from the elements

• 97% of farms are family owned

Should animals be used in experiments?• Animal Rights

▫Unethical▫Unnecessary▫Exaggerated value▫Misleading tests could

danger human health▫Pound seizures,

Draize Testing, * Classical LD50

▫6 million animals used in experimentation

• Animal Welfare• Biomedical research

limited or stopped• Organ transplants• # of animals used is

declining• 90% are rats/mice• Bovine Corneal

Opacity Test• Plastic models • Tissue Culture

Does the type of animal used matter?•Monkeys vs Mice?•Dogs vs Rats?•Why?•Does it matter what

test is being conducted?

Should hunting and trapping be allowed?•Animal Rights

▫Inhumane▫Unnatural▫“Joy of killing”▫Stop use of dogs▫“Regulations =

providing animals to hunt”

▫Hunting food is not necessary

• Animal Welfare• Prime source of $$ for

preserving wildlife• Tradition• Population control• Focus public attn on

wildlife• Initiates of wildlife

laws• Harvest only surplus

animals

Some Odds and Ends•USDA implements regulation of most

animal welfare laws•Charles Stenholm & Senator Howell

Heflin cosponsored the Animal Enterprise Protection Act of 1992

•Rabbits are used in the Draize Eye Test because they don’t have tear ducts

•Approximately 1 million animals are used in ed facilities for dissection annually

Odds and Ends•The LD50 test determines the dose

required to kill 50% of a test population•Primates make up about ½ of 1% of

experiment animals•Crushed monkey spinal cords were

necessary to make the polio vaccine