|
Back to Questions |
|
- How do Canadian animal welfare practices/codes/standards etc. compare to those of China and India?
I cannot offer a definitive answer to this question since I do not have
sufficient experience of practices in the three countries. Codes of
Practice are undoubtedly more advanced in Europe and Canada than China (or
the USA). In all countries the two most pressing needs are these:
- To increase informed public awareness of farm animal welfare problems,
since this can be the most effective driver for change.
- To improve the mechanisms for independent welfare-based quality control on
farms (monitoring alone is not enough
You may note that these are the two wheels of the Virtuous bicycle.
- Is there a hierarchy of animal species that fall along a “spectrum” between emotion and cognitive response.
This is a fascinating question but one that is impossible to answer in the
light of current knowledge. We can however conclude that we must not fall
into the fallacy of assuming that the more human-like the species (i.e.
primates) the greater their capacity to feel, think and therefore suffer.
All sentient species show emotional responses. There is limited but good
evidence for complex cognitive abilities in some species of both mammals
and birds. Whether this makes them more or less prone to suffer, we don't
know. In the absence of such evidence we should give all sentient species
the benefit of the doubt. Where sentience starts is another great unknown
but I am confident that we may include as sentient all the farm mammals and
birds.
|
