Naturalness and Animal Welfare
Naturalness is considered important for animals, and is one criterion for assessing how we care for them. However, it is a vague and ambiguous term, which needs definition and assessments suitable for scientific and ethical questions. This paper makes a start on that aim. This paper differentiates t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2018-04-01
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| Series: | Animals |
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| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/4/53 |
| _version_ | 1828352083264274432 |
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| author | James Yeates |
| author_facet | James Yeates |
| author_sort | James Yeates |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Naturalness is considered important for animals, and is one criterion for assessing how we care for them. However, it is a vague and ambiguous term, which needs definition and assessments suitable for scientific and ethical questions. This paper makes a start on that aim. This paper differentiates the term from other related concepts, such as species-typical behaviour and wellbeing. It identifies contingent ways in which naturalness might be used, as: (i) prompts for further welfare assessment; (ii) a plausible hypothesis for what safeguards wellbeing; (iii) a threshold for what is acceptable; (iv) constraints on what improvements are unacceptable; and (v) demarcating what is not morally wrong, because of a lack of human agency. It then suggests an approach to evaluating animals’ behaviour that is quantitative, is based on reality, and which assesses naturalness by degrees. It proposes classing unaffected wild populations as natural by definition. Where animals might have been affected by humans, they should be compared to the closest population(s) of unaffected animals. This approach could allow us both to assess naturalness scientifically, and to make practical decisions about the behaviour of domestic animals. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-14T01:49:50Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-808bcceefeb1412c8b420290ec469b3b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-2615 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-14T01:49:50Z |
| publishDate | 2018-04-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Animals |
| spelling | doaj.art-808bcceefeb1412c8b420290ec469b3b2022-12-22T02:19:24ZengMDPI AGAnimals2076-26152018-04-01845310.3390/ani8040053ani8040053Naturalness and Animal WelfareJames Yeates0RSPCA Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS, UKNaturalness is considered important for animals, and is one criterion for assessing how we care for them. However, it is a vague and ambiguous term, which needs definition and assessments suitable for scientific and ethical questions. This paper makes a start on that aim. This paper differentiates the term from other related concepts, such as species-typical behaviour and wellbeing. It identifies contingent ways in which naturalness might be used, as: (i) prompts for further welfare assessment; (ii) a plausible hypothesis for what safeguards wellbeing; (iii) a threshold for what is acceptable; (iv) constraints on what improvements are unacceptable; and (v) demarcating what is not morally wrong, because of a lack of human agency. It then suggests an approach to evaluating animals’ behaviour that is quantitative, is based on reality, and which assesses naturalness by degrees. It proposes classing unaffected wild populations as natural by definition. Where animals might have been affected by humans, they should be compared to the closest population(s) of unaffected animals. This approach could allow us both to assess naturalness scientifically, and to make practical decisions about the behaviour of domestic animals.http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/4/53animal welfarenatural behaviournaturalnessspecies-specific behaviourwellbeing |
| spellingShingle | James Yeates Naturalness and Animal Welfare Animals animal welfare natural behaviour naturalness species-specific behaviour wellbeing |
| title | Naturalness and Animal Welfare |
| title_full | Naturalness and Animal Welfare |
| title_fullStr | Naturalness and Animal Welfare |
| title_full_unstemmed | Naturalness and Animal Welfare |
| title_short | Naturalness and Animal Welfare |
| title_sort | naturalness and animal welfare |
| topic | animal welfare natural behaviour naturalness species-specific behaviour wellbeing |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/8/4/53 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jamesyeates naturalnessandanimalwelfare |