THE PAIN ON OUR PLATE: Britain’s ‘feel good’ action plan for animal welfare
We may recognize animals as sentient, but it means very little if we cannot treat them as such. There is no way to farm animals kindly, and no way to genuinely respect their sentience while we are ultimately planning to kill them.
GEORGE DVORSKY: The UK is implementing a series of new measures to improve the welfare of animals (Action Plan for Animal Welfare), both at home and abroad… A series of proposed laws to protect pets, farm animals, and endangered species will be considered in the coming months. Under the new plan, cats must be microchipped and ivory and shark fins will be made illegal. The government is even considering a ban on foie gras, among many other measures…
Some of the reforms, such as recognizing animals as sentient beings and banning the import of hunting trophies, are a step in the right direction, but the new measures aren’t enough to prevent some of the worst abuses… By “sentient,” they mean capable of feeling pain, hunger, and emotions and having an awareness of themselves and their immediate circumstances.
The bill is exclusive to vertebrates and does not include animals like octopuses and squids. That said, the UK government has “commissioned research into the sentience of decapod crustaceans and cephalopods, and, in light of the findings, we will consider further protections, according to the action plan. Importantly, the EU already recognizes animals as sentient beings (excluding fish, amphibians, and reptiles), so the UK is not breaking new ground in this regard…
Protections for wild animals include a law that will make it illegal to keep primates as pets. Other new measures include stricter enforcement of illegal hare coursing, in which dogs are used to hunt hares, and restrictions—but not an outright ban—on the use of glue traps. The UK government also plans to fund national and international wildlife conservation efforts.
Protections will also be extended to wild animals living abroad, such as the importation of hunting trophies, but this will only apply to endangered species. The UK will formally impose a total ban on the sale on ivory (including antiques), along with a ban on the import and export of shark fins…
The government will also evaluate—but not ban—the use of cages for poultry and farrowing crates for pigs, which greatly restrict the movement of pregnant and suckling pigs. Other reforms for farm animals include better conditions for the transport of animals, finding new ways to improve the welfare of animals during the slaughtering process, and new incentives for farmers to improve the condition and welfare of their livestock. SOURCE…
LYNLEY TULLOCH: The recent announcement that animals are now to be formally recognized as sentient under UK law provides a good basis for campaigners and animal rights activists to push for law change… This means that animals are regarded as having the capacity to be aware of sensations… With sensation comes a range of possible emotions.
Take for example the evident satisfaction that a chicken gets from dust bathing. Anyone who keeps chickens knows how much they love to bathe in dry dirt to clean themselves, often together in groups.In fact, dust bathing is a relaxing social activity for chickens. And yet sadly, this awareness of sentience is not given adequate attention.
Instead it is given short shrift when industry profit is at risk. While we are aware animals can feel we still subject them to ongoing atrocities… Despite knowing about this important chicken behaviour, it is still legal in both the United Kingdom and New Zealand to lock egg laying chickens up in small cages without any access to loose dirt…
Chickens are legally considered sentient and in the same breath they are legally allowed to be locked up their whole lives. And then we are legally allowed to kill them with an automated knife after stunning them in electrified water while they hang in shackles. Then legally we can plunge them into a vat of boiling water to remove their feathers. Then we can eat them. Legally, of course. And despite their sentience…
In colony cages birds become stressed and often get trapped beneath the ‘perch’. Their bones become brittle from lack of movement and they suffer disease and feather loss. They also experience emotional distress, including anxiety, stress, boredom and fear… In short, while both the United Kingdom… recognise laying hens as sentient, they still subject them to enormous suffering…
It’s not just birds who suffer… The pork industry has some devastating animal husbandry practices, especially in indoor factory farming systems. One of the most notable of these is the use of crates, which keep mother sows confined in a space so small they cannot even turn around.
Even animals that are not kept in cages suffer. Dairy cows are hooked up to machines twice daily and have the milk taken from them that was meant for their calves. Their calves have been separated from them at birth and many were killed before 10 days of age.
And that is just… how we are being duped and lied to by both legal frameworks and industry. They have each other’s backs, and the animals are the casualties. It’s not a conspiracy. Rather it is cognitive dissonance – that state where you believe something even when all evidence points to the contrary. Sometimes we see only what we want to…
We may recognize animals as sentient, but it means very little if we cannot treat them as such. There is no way to farm animals kindly, and no way to genuinely respect their sentience while we are ultimately planning to kill them. If you don’t already, please consider keeping animals off your plate. SOURCE…
OLIVIA MILLER: Dr. Corey Wrenn from the University’s School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research has commented on how although the Animal Sentience Bill is welcomed, it does not go far enough and feels more like a marketing tactic. She said:
“The notion that, in 2021, a bill would be required to acknowledge the basic scientific reality that millions of species other than humans are sentient may seem incredible, but, historically, the economic commodification of nonhumans has rendered them nonpersons. To recognise their sentience would be to fundamentally challenge entrenched European economies that rely on the gross (but highly profitable) use and exploitation of vulnerable nonhumans”…
“In such situations, animals are frequently objectified as symbols of this global superiority. Any resulting welfare legislation is likely to support the myth of Great Britain, but highly unlikely to fundamentally challenge the state’s entitlement to nonhuman bodies”…
‘Welfare laws are essentially a measure to manage public relations and streamline speciesist industries (healthier animals make for a more marketable product). If Britain wishes to become a true global leader in animal welfare, it would do well to cease its economic and political support for speciesism”…
“Johnson’s 10 step plan for a “sustainable” future, for instance, makes no mention of animal agriculture (and the European Union continues to deeply subsidise these industries). This is a bizarre oversight given the immense violence incurred on domesticated and free-living animal populations as well as the heavy toll that meat, dairy, and egg production enacts on the environment”. SOURCE…
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