ETHICAL ISSUES IN REGARD TO THE USE OF ANIMALS IN AGRICULTURE

Special issue editor: Peter Sandøe
pes@kvl.dk

Deadline for this issue is June 1, 2001.

In many parts of the world the use of animals for production has come under pressure in the light of ethical concerns. From the outset, the main worry has been about animal welfare: whether the animals, because of production pressures, are being housed, or taken off in ways that do not to a sufficient degree cater for their behavioral or physiological needs. Also from the outset, animal welfare was typically viewed as something to be looked after by scientists, measuring the behavioral or physiological responses of the animals to their environment.

However, increasingly more fundamental ethical assumptions underlying the use of animals for production are being questioned; and a wide range of questions are being asked: What is a good animal life, is it just absence of abnormal behavior and physiological stress? Is it always acceptable to farm animals as long as their welfare is not seriously impaired, or are there other criteria? How is it possible to improve farm animal welfare without destroying the livelihood of the farmer? What are the best means for progress in this area, legislation, management schemes, or special animal welfare friendly products? How far is it acceptable to change farm animals by means of surgery, breeding, or biotechnology to produce efficiently and fit into the production environment? Potential authors are invited to address these and related ethical questions.

Contact: Peter Sandoe

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