Pastoral Farming Ethics and Economics–Aligning Grazing Practices and Expectations

摘要

We all generally value animal welfare–what animals experience, how they perform or whether theyare being treated with respect–is important to them and to us. However, animal welfare is contestedbecause humans benefit from compromises to animals and we have different expectations borne ofdifferent needs, preferences and prejudices: “some we love, some we hate, some we eat” (1). Alsocontested is what we think and understand is important to animals, and whether the way animalsare farmed is in keeping with their nature. In all, a complex subject, but complexity is a feature ofhumanity, as noted in the development of early civilisations (2).Few people see the world as exclusively human and most extend concern to animals, plantsand the environment, giving rise to different animal-related values, the “rules” and “expectations”we learn from parents and family life, friends, religion, our trades, and professions, the literature,media, the society we live in and its history. Values, then, are not always shared; reasonable peoplecan disagree; and contested ideas can become difficult to describe, subject to considerable politicaldebate and are unlikely to have simple solutions, at best being managed rather than solved. Ourcommon morality holds that we not harm, that we do good, that we are fair and just, and thatwe respect people’s ability to make their own choices (3). The importance of values to humanbehavior requires that different values are understood, respected and taken into account, even ifthey cannot be reconciled. And how humans interact with animals is fertile ground for contestedpractices and expectations.