Principles of animal welfare

The 5 freedomsFreedom from thirst, hunger and

malnutrition.Freedom from inappropriate comfort and

shelter.Freedom from injury, disease or parasites

with rapid diagnosis and treatment.Freedom from distress.Freedom to display normal patterns of

behaviour.

Animal welfare Upheld by Animal Welfare Act – ethics

committees, SPCA, NAEAC, NAWAC, NZVA, Federated Farmers, MAF, ANZCCART.

Beyond the five freedoms – upheld by animal activists – SAFE, WSPA, CIWF, ALF.

by Lynda Mellor

Eg of when some consider it ok deprive an animal of its freedoms:

Farmers in a drought may think it ok for animals to die of starvation.

People keeping goats on a chain with no shelter.

People who promote and watch dog fighting.Using irritants to get wild rodeo rides.Older style zoos.

Imaginary code of welfare from an animal rights group.

Five freedoms.Animals have the same rights as people.If you wouldn’t like it being done then it

shouldn’t be done on animals.All research and pharmaceutical testing

should be done on humans.

Imaginary code of welfare from an animal liberation group.

Five freedoms.Complete freedom to move, no cages, fences

or barriers.Animals have the same rights as people.If you wouldn’t like it being done then it

shouldn’t be done on animals.All research and pharmaceutical testing

should be done on humans.

Imaginary code of welfare in 1000 years time.

Freedom to reach optimal weight using individually programmed diets.

Freedom to receive optimum comfort in well designed shelter.

Freedom from disease, diagnosis at the sub-clinical stage .Freedom from distress, automatic cortisol readings to

ensure no distress occurs.Freedom to display normal behavior using control collars to

contain in a safe environment.Freedom from experimentation as computer modeling can

be used.

Empathy =

feeling of concern and understanding for an animals

situation.

Sentience

Sensate – can sense via the 5 senses

Higher functions – think and reason, predict, sense of self (theory of mind) rationalise.

Need to consider the level of sentience in order to have empathy for an animal.

by Lynda Mellor

Anthropomorphic =

giving human attributes to an animal, or to the animal's

experiences or perceptions.Anthropormorphism indicates a lack of understanding of the animal and therefore less ability to show true empathy.

Risks of anthropomorphism:Indicates lack of understanding – so rest of what

you say is less believable.Implies excessive emotion – so colours listeners

belief in your objectivity.If you take an extreme view you are likely either

to be met with an extreme view or cause the listener to clam up.

Animal ethics committeesAll institutions or people using animals must have the

animal use approved by an animal ethics committee.Made up of people from the institution and people from

outside – often Vets or other institutions plus a lay person eg. from SPCA.

Committee monitored by NAEAC.All protocols must be pre approved, reviewed 3 yearly.All animal use must be recorded.Must meet at least once per year to approve new protocols

and review animal use.Premises can be inspected without notice by committee

members or NAEAC.

Application to an Ethics Committee

Title of research/training projectJustification - purposesDescription of procedurePossible adverse effectsSafeguards – Three R’sDeclaration

by Lynda Mellor

UCOL Animal ethics committeeHas one protocol to approve the use of animals

for teaching.Only category 0 use – nil to minimal

distress/invasiveness.Meets once a year to review animal use.Protocol reviewed in 2005.2007 committee:

From UCOL: Peter Murphy (chair), Heather Grady, Jen Trow.

Members also from Massey, MAF and SPCA.

Statistics for animal use recordEvery time an animal is used it needs to have its use

recorded.Includes even minimal intervention.

Eg. bandaging.Only recorded once for a single experiment or

teaching event.Eg. Blood sample every hour for 8 hours is only one

use not eight.Does not include normal care or normal

Veterinary procedures.Eg. excludes observing practice at Totally Vets.

The 3 R’sReplaceReduceRefine

Aims for minimal animal use and ensure use is of maximal scientific value.

NAEAC promotes these principles and every protocol application must be considered against these.

Many journals will not publish unethical work.

For:Discourages unethical work being done.

Against:“Wastes” any unethical work that has already been

done.The information gained again using ethical experiments

so more animal use.