Ethics, bioethics and animal welfare applied to animal production are a source of conflict. Ethics attempts to define that which is right from that which is wrong. Bioethics concerns the ethical questions involving biology. Animal welfare is the care of animals kept in the service of mankind. These three concepts are causing ethical conflicts as a result of a demand for bioethical animal foods. The questions are “Is it ethically justifiable to use food grains as feed or to assure animal welfare, when many humans are still far from having met their own needs? Will the unsustainability of feed grain production, as a result of over exploitation of natural resources, affect the food availability for future generations?”. Nevertheless intensive animal production, where animals have little or no contact with their natural surroundings, generates cheap animal foods. In an investigation of 55 pigs bred using semi-extensive (maximum animal welfare) and intensive methods and fed the same diet, the Feed Conversion Index was 5.67 vs 4.50 to obtain a final weight of 168 kg. The diet included 68.6% food grain (corn 52.5% and barley 16.1%) and the semi-extensively bred pigs consumed 26% more. Replacing food grains in animal production could help to resolve conflicting ethical obligations, with animal nutrition progress supporting breeders in producing ethical animal foods. Adopting an “Ethical Index” branding animal food, consumers, aware of recommendations to reduce animal food consumption for a healthy human diet, can induce producers to change their policies to ethical animal food production.
Ethics, bioethics and animal welfare: at what cost
BARBERA, Salvatore
2006-01-01
Abstract
Ethics, bioethics and animal welfare applied to animal production are a source of conflict. Ethics attempts to define that which is right from that which is wrong. Bioethics concerns the ethical questions involving biology. Animal welfare is the care of animals kept in the service of mankind. These three concepts are causing ethical conflicts as a result of a demand for bioethical animal foods. The questions are “Is it ethically justifiable to use food grains as feed or to assure animal welfare, when many humans are still far from having met their own needs? Will the unsustainability of feed grain production, as a result of over exploitation of natural resources, affect the food availability for future generations?”. Nevertheless intensive animal production, where animals have little or no contact with their natural surroundings, generates cheap animal foods. In an investigation of 55 pigs bred using semi-extensive (maximum animal welfare) and intensive methods and fed the same diet, the Feed Conversion Index was 5.67 vs 4.50 to obtain a final weight of 168 kg. The diet included 68.6% food grain (corn 52.5% and barley 16.1%) and the semi-extensively bred pigs consumed 26% more. Replacing food grains in animal production could help to resolve conflicting ethical obligations, with animal nutrition progress supporting breeders in producing ethical animal foods. Adopting an “Ethical Index” branding animal food, consumers, aware of recommendations to reduce animal food consumption for a healthy human diet, can induce producers to change their policies to ethical animal food production.
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