Animal Welfare
Justice is all of us—and a choice. It’s a choice to become friends of animal lives: with wonder, compassion, outrage, and hope. We need to make it now - Martha C. Nussbaum
image by: Animal Equality
HWN Suggests
Health is Not Just for Humans
I have looked into the deep, dark brown eyes of horse who trusts me, and depends on me for his clean living space, his food, his water, and in return I have been rewarded with loyalty and the joy that comes with the feeling of freedom one gets when riding through the crashing waves on a beautiful horse.
If profit is the motivator, don’t attend; if abuse occurs in your presence, speak up. Health, a life without abuse, we expect it for ourselves, shouldn’t we dare to provide it for our animals as well? Some lines can be fine, some not so much – you know the difference.
Resources
Earthlings
EARTHLINGS is a 2005 American documentary film about humankind's total dependence on animals for economic purposes. Presented in five chapters (pets, food, clothing, entertainment and scientific research) the film is narrated by Joaquin Phoenix, featuring music by Moby, and was written, produced and directed by Shaun Monson.
What Humans Owe Animals
Animals are in trouble all over the world. Our world is dominated by humans everywhere: on land, in the seas, and in the air. No non-human animal escapes human domination. Much of the time, that domination inflicts wrongful injury on animals: whether through the barbarous cruelties of the factory meat industry, through poaching and game hunting, through habitat destruction, through pollution of the air and the seas, or through neglect of the companion animals that people purport to love.
Why the future of animal welfare lies beyond the West
Factory farming is spreading around the world. Animal welfare groups are trying to keep up.
Animal Rights vs. Animal Welfare
“Animal rights is a philosophical view and personal value characterized by statements by various animal rights groups. Animal welfare and animal rights are not synonymous terms.
Animal welfare and animal rights are very different beasts
Proponents of animal welfare are interested in questions like: “How can we improve the well-being of zoo animals?” Whereas animal rights supporters ask questions like: “Should we have zoos?” These are very different questions with diametrically opposed outcomes: the constant improvement of zoos or their closing down. Both could be argued to improve animal well-being, but one is highly pragmatic, whereas the other is philosophical.
Animal Welfare in Matthew Scully's 'Dominion'
Host Scott Simon talks with Matthew Scully, author of Dominion a book on "animal welfare." It's published by St. Martin's Press. Mr. Scully criticizes the factory farm where animals are treated as mere products, and raised and slaughtered in a way that maximizes profits and minimizes decency. Instead Scully argues that humans are morally responsible for protecting animal welfare, and must treat all animals, even those bred for slaughter, in as humane a way as possible.
Animal Welfare Science: Why and for Whom?
Animal welfare is a multifaceted concept that has evolved over time to address concerns about the treatment of animals, including, for example, the genuine concerns with animal suffering, registered in the book Animal Machines: The New Factory Farming Industry by Ruth Harrison (1964).
Emotional support pets: experts warn of animal welfare risk
Focus on human needs must not result in impact on animals being overlooked, say researchers.
Finally: SeaWorld Announces It Will Stop Breeding Orcas
Since the 2013 release of Blackfish, the documentary about the inhumane treatment of captive killer whales, the public has been pressuring SeaWorld to end its orca breeding program and stop abusing the whales by keeping them in captivity. Today the water park has finally announced it will finally do it. "This year we will end all orca breeding programs—and because SeaWorld hasn't collected an orca from the wild in almost four decades, this will be the last generation of orcas in SeaWorld's care...
How 'Black Beauty' Changed The Way We See Horses
Black Beauty is widely credited with helping to change the way horses were cared for. There is little doubt that the book helped hasten the abolishment of the "bearing rein" — a strap used to pull a horse's head in toward its chest to force the appearance of a noticeable arch of the neck.
Morality and animal welfare
Right after I got out of grad school, I had a fight with a friend about veal. Said friend loved veal, and more importantly, wanted to cook veal for me; I refused to eat it, which made him mad. It was not, he pointed out, consistent to care about veal calves but happily eat industrially farmed chicken. "You're right," I said. "I'm going back to being a vegetarian."
Philosopher Peter Singer: ‘There’s no reason to say humans have more worth or moral status than animals’
Australian philosopher Peter Singer’s book Animal Liberation, published in 1975, exposed the realities of life for animals in factory farms and testing laboratories and provided a powerful moral basis for rethinking our relationship to them.
So you want to work in animal welfare
How to prepare for the career you never knew existed.
The Animal Welfare Act Grants Protection to Pets and More
On August 24th, 1966, the first federal act to regulate animal welfare in research was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson. Originally targeting the problem of pet theft for research purposes, the Animal Welfare Act (AWA) has been expanded over the years to become one of the most wide-reaching federal animal rights laws, ensuring the humane treatment of millions of animals in the U.S.
The biggest animal welfare success of the past 6 years, in one chart
Factory farming is spreading, but some of its worst practices are on their way out.
The industry that ‘Tiger King’ made famous will soon be illegal
Landmark U.S. legislation bans cub petting, tiger selfies, and breeding big cats as pets. What does that mean for the thousands of captive cats?
Tories accuse Sunak of breaking pledge after animal welfare U-turn
“Vital protections for dogs, calves, sheep, primates and other animals have been sacrificed today at the government’s altar of self-serving political convenience. We will of course back delivery of these commitments as private members’ bills, but this is a high-risk strategy, and indicative of the low priority the government now evidently places on animal welfare.”
Health is Not Just for Humans
Our animals trust us. We owe them a healthy life and protection from harm and abuse
Alice Oven: Animal Welfare & Ethics
This website is about rethinking our relationships with the animals we encounter every day: the companions with whom we share our homes, the farmed animals we might eventually find on our plates, the wild animals whose lives we impact with the clothing we buy, the waste we throw away or the tourist experience we Instagram, and the laboratory animals who tested the cosmetics in our bathroom cabinet.
Animal Equality
Help protect cows, pigs and chickens from suffering on factory farms.
Animal Experience International
Are you ready to transform your life while helping animals around the world? AEI empowers animal lovers, students, professionals, and adventure seekers to travel and make a difference by volunteering with animals. Our exceptional experiences are safe, ethical and unforgettable. Join our team of international volunteers and explore the world while doing what you love. It doesn’t matter who you are, we will help you make a difference.
Animal Justice Project
Animal Justice Project campaigns for the end of animal farming. We work with activists nationwide to build on the capacity, scale and effectiveness of the animal rights movement; so that we can collectively achieve our shared vision of a society that is just.
Animal Legal Defense Fund
The Animal Legal Defense Fund files high-impact lawsuits to protect animals from harm, provides free legal assistance and training to prosecutors in their fight against animal cruelty, supports animal protection legislation, and provides resources and opportunities to law students and professionals to advance the field of animal law.
Animal Matters
Animal Matters™ is a volunteer-run organization dedicated to promoting the welfare of wild, companion, farm and laboratory animals throughout the world through online advocacy. We work online because we believe doing so is the most cost-effective way of accomplishing our mission.
Animal Welfare Council
The Animal Welfare Council members support the use of animals in recreation, entertainment, industry and sports. We are dedicated to advancing the responsible and humane use of animals in these activities.
ASPCA
The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals® (ASPCA®) was the first humane society to be established in North America and is, today, one of the largest in the world.
Association for Animal Welfare Advancement
The Association for Animal Welfare Advancement envisions a strong, unified profession that enriches the interconnected lives of animals and people.
Four Paws International
Four Paws is the global animal welfare organisation for animals under direct human influence, which reveals suffering, rescues animals in need and protects them. Our vision is a world where humans treat animals with respect, empathy and understanding.
Freedom for Animals
We believe all animals should live free from exploitation, harm and captivity.
Humane Rescue Alliance
A tenacious advocate for animals, building an alliance that can tackle the systemic challenges facing animals in our region and beyond, with the goal of saving more lives.
IAPWA (International Aid for the Protection & Welfare of Animals)
IAPWA is an international animal welfare charity and with your support we can change the lives of animals in need around the world
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare)
IFAW (International Fund for Animal Welfare) is a global non-profit helping animals and people thrive together. We are experts and everyday people, working across seas, oceans, and in more than 40 countries around the world. We rescue, rehabilitate, and release animals, and we restore and protect their natural habitats.
Mercy for Animals
Our mission is to end industrial animal agriculture by constructing a just and sustainable food system. Imagine a world free of cruelty, a world in which we nurture our bodies, minds, and spirits with wholesome, healthy food that is kind to animals and sustainable for our planet. Mercy For Animals believes that world is possible. In fact, it is inevitable if we work together to elevate humanity to its fullest potential.
SPCA International
As we forge ahead, SPCA International continues to expand the scope of programs, launch new initiatives, increase the size and volume of shelter grants awarded and expand education programs. This small international organization is making a big difference in the lives of animals throughout the world.
Vegan Outreach
Vegan Outreach is a 501c3 nonprofit organization working to end violence towards animals. We seek a future when sentient animals are no longer exploited as commodities. We focus on reaching the people who are motivated enough to make changes now—of which there are always many in our target audience who just need some guidance.
Voiceless
Voiceless supports and invests in impactful people and projects to foster pro-animal values and create lasting systemic change. By disrupting the status quo and reforming our social, political, legal and institutional systems, animals can have fair and effective legal rights and flourish on their own terms.
World Animal Protection
Our vision is a world where animals live free from suffering - together we can move the world for animals.
Animal Friends
We are on a mission to create a better life for every animal. We believe that all animals, from the domestic to the exotic, deserve the right to be protected and to live happy and healthy lives.
Humane Society
At the Humane Society Legislative Fund, our mission is to Get Political for Animals by working to pass animal protection laws at the state and federal levels, to educate the public about animal protection issues, and to support humane candidates for office.
Maddie's Pet Forum
The forum provides an opportunity and space for people all over the country within the animal welfare industry to connect. With collaboration, animal welfare organizations can learn new things from each other and build lasting relationships with one another.
National Animal Interest Alliance
The National Animal Interest Alliance is an association of business, agricultural, scientific, and recreational interests dedicated to promoting animal welfare, supporting responsible animal use and strengthening the bond between humans and animals
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