animal welfare elista education 2011. what is welfare: an introduction
TRANSCRIPT
ANIMAL WELFARE
ELISTA Education 2011
WHAT IS WELFARE: An Introduction
WHAT is WELFARE? 1 the health, happiness, and fortunes of a person or group 2 statutory procedure or social effort designed to promote
the basic physical and material well-being of people in need:
http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/welfare?view=uk
Well-being, happiness; health & prosperity (of a person or community) (Oxford Dictionary, 1992)
WELFARE
Health
Happiness
Money/WealthPhysical Well-being
Warmth
Clothes
Heating
Food
Material Well-being
Possessions
“feeling pleasure or contentment”
Notice that definitions for welfare include very little social or emotional well-being, only ‘happiness’.
This in human society maybe the critical and pivotal component to the assessment of human welfare
WELFARE =Well-being = “being well”
If you care about someone’s welfare you care about them being well.
How can we, or animals be well?
SCALE of WELL BEINGExtremely wellNot well
Eating (pref choc!)
Nice Ride
Walk on sunny day
Cuddle on Sofa
Cold, wet, tired
Hungry
Frustrated
Bored
Are the things listed all physical?
Are everyone’s the same?
What about animals Well-being? What makes an animal well? What makes an animal not well? Is an animals well being the same as ours?
Can we assume that what makes us happy makes an animal happy?…
And unhappy?
AnthropomorphismCaution should be used when talking about “happiness” in
animals. To be ‘happy’ is an emotional state, just as it is to be ‘sad’ or ‘bored’.
We do not know for a FACT that animals experience these emotions in the same way we do. Physiological responses can be linked to emotional feelings such as release of oxytocin and endorphins, adrenaline and cortisol.
To attribute human emotions to animals is considered Anthropomorphic, and although may be suitable for anecdotal speech has no scientific grounding.
AnthropomorphismThe dog is happy
(The dog is aroused (positive), responding to pleasing stimuli, distance decreasing signals)
The elephant is bored(The elephant has a lack of stimulation; behaviour is a
response to barren environment with limited
to no stimulation. Boredom is an emotion)
The dog is angry(The dog is aroused (negative), stressed or responding
to non-pleasing stimuli, distance increasing signal)
Why do we anthropomorphise? Animals are endearing
(natural affinity to)
Place ourselves into their situation/environment
Child-like fun!
Apart from anthropomorphising where do our opinions and perceptions on animal welfare come from?
Why do they differ?
What is a perception? “Intuitive recognition of truth, aesthetic
quality, way of seeing, understanding”(Oxford Dictionary, 1992)
What can affect our perceptions of animal well being? Personality Empathy Experience (ownership) Knowledge Gender (+genes) Religion + Cultural information exchange Environmental (Media)
PersonalityDescribing traits (characteristics) is a common way of assessing
personalitySome people have grouped
traits to label a personality type.
Eysenck’s Personality Theory (1963)
More recent is the Keirsey Temperament Sorter(using personality types Guardian, Artisans, Idealists & Rationalists)
(Neurotic)
Biological explanation for Personality
General personality types (e.g Extrovert, Introvert and
Neuroticism) have a biological genetic basis (Hayes,
1995) related to cortical arousal.
Personality types and Animal Welfare Perceptions Limited studies on what type of personality are
more concerned with animal welfare…Broida et al. (1993) no difference in introverts, but intuitive type more against than sensate and feeling types more against than thinking.
Bagley & Gonsman study (2005) Personality and Pet Attachment- Idealist have higher pet attachment (idealist traits=“identity seeking”, trusting of intuitions and feelings, skilled in interpersonal integration, ethical, benevolent and
empathetic (8-10% population (Keirsey), 38.7% in Bagley & Gonsman)
Empathy (Taylor & Signal, 2005)
Often considered a by-product of a personality trait (maybe influenced by environmental events & personal experience)
Females seen to be more empathetic Current pet owners more empathetic Link to pet empathy and human-human empathy
Experience Caring for animals Being a pet
owner/exposure Experience will
always affect empathy (…can harden/immune or more concerning)
Knowledge What we are here for!… To be objective-fact based,
measurable recordings etc Lack of Knowledge (ignorance) also affect
perception
Gender Women seen more in animal welfare
organisations
Religion & Cultural Exchange What we are told is right and wrong Religious ethics (Halal meat, sacred
animals, reincarnation) Peer behaviour Observation
Environment Wealth Status Media influence?…
Perceptions- Nature & Nurture Nature
Personality
Gender+ genes
Nurture
Personality?
Experience
Knowledge
Culture
Environmental
Is it ok to have different perceptions and opinions? Yes!…different perceptions and opinions makes
us a society, rather than being lie a tribe of clones!…
What is important from the point of view of studying Animal Welfare is 1. Where our opinions and perceptions come from and 2. To respect the opinions and perceptions of others and be open to changing our own opinions and perceptions due to increased knowledge.