Attitudes to Animals: Views in Animal Welfare

272 Pages·1999·1.21 MB·English

by  Francine L. Dolins

ATTITUDES TO ANIMALS:
VIEWS IN ANIMAL WELFARE
AttitudestoAnimalsprovidesafoundationthatthereadercanusetomake
ethical choices about animals. It will challenge readers to question their
currentviews,attitudesandperspectivesonanimalsandthenatureofthe
human–animalrelationship.
Humanperspectivesonthehuman–animalrelationshipsreflectwhatwe
have learned,togetherwith spokenand unspokenattitudesandassump-
tions, from our families, society, media, education and employment.
Thisthought-provokingbookwillaskwhatitistobehuman,whattobe
animal,andwhatisthenatureofrelationshipbetweenthem.Theseques-
tions are addressed through philosophical and ethical discussions, scien-
tific evidence and dynamic theoretical approaches. Attitudes to Animals
willalsoencourageustothinknotonlyofourrelationshipstonon-human
animals, but also those with other, human, animals.
 .  has taught psychology and psychobiology at
CentreCollegeinDanville,Kentucky.Inadditiontoalong-terminterest
inanimalwelfareissues,herresearchhasfocusedonspatialcognitionand
foraging in non-human primates. She has worked with captive primate
populationsin the United Kingdomand the United States,and has also
conductedfieldresearchinPeru,CostaRicaandMadagascar.Currently,
Francine Dolins is the Program Officer for Research in the Animal
Research Issues Section of The Humans Society of the United States.
For Christopher – for sharing his joy in all that is life
ATTITUDES TO ANIMALS:
VIEWS IN ANIMAL WELFARE
Edited by
FRANCINE L. DOLINS
CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS
Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo
Cambridge University Press
The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge CB2 2RU, UK
Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York
www.cambridge.org
Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521473422
© Cambridge University Press 1999
This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception
and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements,
no reproduction of any part may take place without
the written permission of Cambridge University Press.
First published in 1999
A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloguing in Publication data
Dolins, Francine L. (Francine Leigh), 1964–
Attitudes to animals: views in animal welfare/Francine L. Dolins
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0 521 47342 X. – ISBN 0 521 47906 1 (pbk.)
1. Animal welfare – moral and ethical aspects. 2. Human–animal relationships – moral
and ethical aspects. I. Title
HV4708.D63 1999
179´.3—dc21 97-32155 CIP
ISBN-13 978-0-521-47342-2 hardback
ISBN-10 0-521-47342-X hardback
ISBN-13 978-0-521-47906-6 paperback
ISBN-10 0-521-47906-1 paperback
Transferred to digital printing 2005
Contents
List of contributors page vii
Acknowledgements ix
Part I Attitudes to animals
1 A look back in the mirror: perspectives on animals and ethics
Francine L. Dolins 3
2 Me and my totem: cross-cultural attitudes towards animals
Phyllis Passariello 12
3 Sheep in wolves’ clothing? Attitudes to animals among farmers
and scientists James A. Serpell 26
Part II Animal awareness
4 The problem of animal subjectivity and its consequences for
the scientific measurement of animal suffering
Franc¸oise Wemelsfelder 37
5 Environmentalenrichment and impoverishment:
neurophysiologicaleffects Susan D. Healy and
Martin J. Tove´e 54
6 The behavioural requirements of farm animals for psychological
well-being and survival Robert J. Young 77
7 Personality and the happiness of the chimpanzee
James E. King 101
8 Primate cognition: evidence for the ethical treatment of
primates Richard W. Byrne 114
Part III Animal welfare
9 Animal welfare: the concept of the issues Donald M. Broom 129
v
vi Contents
10 New perspectiveson the design and management of captive
animal environments David Shepherdson 143
11 Should we let them go? Mary Midgley 152
Part IV Research and education
12 Humane education: the role of animal-based learning
Andrew J. Petto and Karla D. Russell 167
13 ‘Minding animals’: the role of animals in children’s mental
development M. Patricia Hindley 186
14 Alternatives to using animals in education David Dewhurst 200
15 Animals in scientific education and a reverence for life
Henk Verhoog 218
Part V Epilogue: the future of wild animals
16 Human sentiment and the future of wildlife David E. Cooper 231
17 In the absence of animals: power and impotence in our dealings
with endangered animals Charles Bergman 244
Index 258
Contributors
Charles Bergman
DepartmentofEnglish,PacificLutheranUniversity,Tacoma,Washington,
WA 98477, USA
Donald M. Broom
Department of Clinical Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge,
Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK
Richard W. Byrne
Scottish Primate Research Group, School of Psychology, University of St
Andrews, St Andrews, Fife KY16 9JU, UK
David E. Cooper
Department of Philosophy, University of Durham, 50 Old Elvet Road,
Durham DH1 3HN, UK
David Dewhurst
FacultyofHealthandEnvironment,LeedsMetropolitanUniversity,Calver-
ley Street, Leeds LS1 3HE, UK
Francine L. Dolins
TheHumaneSocietyoftheUnitedStates,AnimalIssuesResearchSection,
Animal Issues Research Section, 2100 L Street, NW, Washington, DC
20037, USA
Susan D. Healy
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofNewcastle-upon-Tyne,Newcastle-
upon-TyneNE1 7RU UK
M. Patricia Hindley
SchoolofCommunication,SimonFraserUniversity,Burnaby,BritishCol-
umbia, V5A 1S6, Canada
vii
viii Contributors
Mary Midgley
1a Collingwood Terrace, Newcastle-upon-Tyne NE2 2JP, UK
James E. King
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofArizona,Tucson,AZ85721,USA
Mary Midgley
Phyllis Passariello
AnthropologyProgram,CentreCollege,Danville,600WestWalnutStreet,
Danville, KY 40422, USA
Andrew J. Petto
CenterforScienceEducation,POBox8880National,Madison,WI53708-
8880, USA
Karla D. Russell
RRI, Box 87, Intervale, NH 03845, USA
James A. Serpell
DepartmentofClinicalStudies,SchoolofVeterinaryMedicine,University
of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
David Shepherdson
Metro Washington Park Zoo, Portland, Oregon, OR 97221, USA
Martin J. Tove´e
DepartmentofPsychology,UniversityofNewcastle-upon-Tyne,Newcastle-
upon-TyneNE1 7RU, UK
Henk Verhoog
TheoreticalBiologyDivision,LeidenUniversity,Kaiserstraat63,2311GP
Leiden PO Box 9516, 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands
Franc¸oise Wemelsfelder
GeneticsandBehavioural SciencesDepartment,Scottish AgriculturalCol-
lege, Bush Estate, Penicuik EH26 0QE, UK
Robert J. Young
SchoolofAgricultureandHorticulture,DeMontfortUniversity,Caythorpe,
Grantham, Lincolnshire NG32 3EP, UK
Acknowledgements
TherearemanypeoplebothprofessionallyandpersonallywhomIwould
liketoacknowledgeandextendmydeepestthankstoinhelpingtomake
this book possible. First, I would like to thank each of the contributors
whogavetheirtimeandenergyinresearchingandwritingtheirchapters.I
wouldliketothankoureditoratCambridgeUniversityPress,DrTracey
Sanderson,whohasshownthegreatestcreativityandpatienceindealing
witheveryaspectoftheproductionofthisbook.Iwouldliketoacknowl-
edge the work of Ms Mary Sanders, who copy-edited this volume with
greatdiligence.And,Iwouldespeciallyliketoacknowledgetheguidance
and assistance that Dr Franc¸oise Wemelsfelderhas generously shown in
creating this volume, through her insight, thoughts and wisdom about
animalbehaviourandwelfare,andherfriendship.DrLizWilliamsonwas
an inspiration that one could ‘act’ positively to create changes for the
welfare of animals and humans alike; she inspires through example, as
does Dr Hannah Buchanan-Smith.
During the planning stages when this project was just an idea, Jean-
Marie Stassin and his small coterie of creatures (Kilda, Samson, Nenni,
Penther) living at Ash Cottage provided much support and encourage-
ment,asdiddearfriendsandcolleagues–EmmaClery,SanjoyRoy,Anita
Roy,JimGardnerandGavinBaxter,MarionSmith,SandraGibb,Mari-
on Dow, Betty Bruce, Mamie Prentice, Rosie Wilson, Dario Floreano,
LynnHanley,VickieGlidewell,PratapRughani,PaulGarber,JimKing
andChristopherKlimowicz.IamalsodeeplygratefultoMerelynDolins
and Eva Trupin, who have great faith in me. Philip Trupin will always
remain as an inspiration, especially when it comes to thinking about
animals.
Finally,Iwouldliketoacknowledgemydeepestthankstotheanimals
forwhomthis bookisreallywritten.Manyanimals,asindividuals,have
ix
x Acknowledgements
touched my life: as a token of the trusting relationships that have been
bestowed on me and the entrance into their ‘mysteries’ that I have been
allowedto observe, I wantedthis book to exist.In my education,I have
‘used’ animals in studying them. This relationship has always left me
uneasy:ananimalisnotabookofversetobeopenedandshutatwill.The
animalexistsbeyondtheclassroomhours,laboratoryworkandresearch–
itbehaves,lives,dies.Iwasandamdeterminedthatstudents’educationin
futuretimeswillnotbefraughtwithsimilardecisionsbasedonsupposedly
mutually exclusive alternatives of whether to pass a course or fail by
aligningthemselveswithcertainbeliefsaboutanimalsandthemeaningof
theirlives.Aneducationcanpromotebothethicalandscientificthinking
simultaneously;theyaredefinitelynotmutuallyexclusiveconcepts.Thus,
this book emerged to assist students with their own beliefs about how
animalsshouldbetreatedineducation,inresearch,andinoursociety,and
thisbookemergedtoassistthosewhoteachcoursesonethicsandanimal
welfare. Those who love animals are students of animals’ nature, and I
hopethatthisbookenlightensthoseoutsideofthestructurededucational
establishments as well.
We obtained joy in creating this book, but the ultimate joy will occur
when we no longer have the need to write books such as these, when
animalsasseparateentities,intheirseparateexistences,areacknowledged
in their respectful place.