Hostname: page-component-6bf8c574d5-h6jzd Total loading time: 0.001 Render date: 2025-02-19T22:08:47.981Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is ‘a life worth living’ a concept worth having?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

JW Yeates
JW Yeates*
Affiliation:
RSPCA, Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS, UK
*
email: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

A recent FAWC report introduced ‘a life worth living’ as a useful concept in farm animal welfare discussions and policy. But what does this concept mean? And is it a useful one? This paper extends FAWC's approach in several ways. It firstly provides an account of the concept of a life worth living in more detail, in relation to current animal welfare thinking, such as experiences and quality of life. It then describes how the concept might be applied in animal welfare management decisions and in setting standards for regulations and Farm Assurance schemes. The paper identifies several advantages to the concept: it is animal-based, intuitively understandable, and has direct prescriptive force in decision-making. But the concept also has certain limitations, especially that it is potentially complex and subjective and that it cannot include all ethically relevant concerns about farm animal welfare. Nevertheless, the paper concludes that the concept may become a useful addition to welfare dialogue, and finishes by identifying the core areas where further work is necessary.

Keywords

animal welfareeuthanasiainsentiencelife worth avoidinglife worth livingquality of life
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 20 , Issue 3 , August 2011 , pp. 397 - 406
Copyright
© 2011 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Appleby, DL, Bradshaw, JWS and Casey, RA 2002 Relationship between aggressive and avoidance behaviour by dogs and their experience in the first six months of life. Veterinary Record 150: 434–438CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Appleby, MC and Sandøe, P 2002 Philosophical debate on the nature of well-being: implications for animal welfare. Animal Welfare 11(3): 283–294Google Scholar
Associate Parliamentary Group for Animal Welfare (APGAW) 2007 Farm Animal Welfare Council and Animals in flooding and other crises. Available at http://www.apgaw.org/userimages/APGAW%20Minutes%20July%2007%20FAWC%20and%20Animals%20in%20flooding.pdfGoogle Scholar
Baxter, MR 1994 The welfare problems of laying hens in battery cages. Veterinary Record 134(24): 614–619CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Berridge, KC 2003 Pleasures of the brain. Brain and Cognition 52: 106–128CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Boissy, A, Arnould, C, Chaillou, E, Désiré, L, Duvaux-Ponter, C, Greiveldinger, L, Leterrier, C, Richard, S, Roussel, S, Saint-Dizier, H, Meunier-Salaün, MC, Valance, D and Veissier, I 2007a Emotions and cognition: a new approach to animal welfare. Animal Welfare 16(S): 37–43Google Scholar
Boissy, A, Manteuffel, G, Jensen, MB, Moe, RO, Spruijt, B, Keeling, LJ, Winckler, C, Forkman, B, Dimitrov, I, Langbein, J, Bakken, M, Veissier, I and Aubert, A 2007b Assessment of positive emotions in animals to improve their welfare. Physiology & Behavior 92: 375–397CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bracke, MBM and Hopster, H 2006 Assessing the importance of natural behaviour for animal welfare. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 19: 77–89CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bracke, MBM, Spruijt, BM and Metz, JHM 1999a Overall animal welfare assessment reviewed: Part 1: Is it possible? Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 47: 279–91Google Scholar
Bracke, MBM, Spruijt, BM and Metz, JHM 1999b Overall animal welfare assessment reviewed. Part 2: Assessment tables and schemes, Netherlands Journal of Agricultural Science 47: 293–305CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broom, DM 1988 The scientific assessment of animal welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 20: 5–19CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broom, DM 1999 Animal welfare: the concept of the issues. In: Dollins, FL (ed) Attitudes to Animals pp 129–142. Cambridge University Press: Cambridge, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Broom, DM 2008 Welfare assessment and relevant ethical decisions: Key concepts. ARBS Annual Review of Biomedical Sciences 10: T79–T90Google Scholar
Burgdorf, J and Panksepp, J 2006 The neurobiology of positive emotions. Neuroscience and Biobehavioural Reviews 30: 173–187CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bushnell, MC, Duncan, GH, Dubner, R and He, LF 1984 Activity of trigeminothalamic neurons in medullary dorsal horn of awake monkeys trained in a thermal discrimination task. Journal of Neurophysiology 52: 170–87CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Casey, KL and Morrow, TJ 1983 Nocicentive responses to cutaneous thermal stimuli in the cat: stimulus-response profiles, latencies, and afferent activity. Journal of Neurophysiology 50: 1497–515CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Colditz, IG, Walkden-Brown, SW and Daly, BL 2005 Some physiological responses associated with reduced wool growth during blowfly strike in Merino sheep. Australian Veterinary Journal 11: 695–699CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, S 2007 Commentary: performance indicates animal state of being: a Cinderella axiom? Professional Animal Scientist 23(6): 573–583CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Danish Cattle Federation 2006 Danish Cattle Federation's Policy Paper on Animal Welfare. http://www.lr.dk/kvaeg/diverse/1547.htmGoogle Scholar
Dantzer, R and Mormède, P 1983 Stress in farm animals: a need for re-evaluation. Journal of Animal Science 57: 6–18CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, MS 1990 From an animal's point of view: motivation, fitness and animal welfare. Behavioural and Brain Sciences 13: 1–61CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dawkins, MS 2006 Through animal eyes: what behaviour tells us. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 100: 4–10CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Denton, DA, McKinley, MJ, Farrell, M and Egan, GF 2009 The role of primordial emotions in the evolutionary origin of consciousness. Consciousness and Cognition 18: 500–514CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) 2009 Animal Health and Welfare Research Requirements Document 2010/2011. DEFRA: London, UK. Available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/science/funding/competitions.htmGoogle Scholar
Désiré, L, Boissy, A and Veissier, I 2002 Emotions in farm animals: a new approach to animal welfare in applied ethology. Behavioural Processes 60: 165–180CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Diesch, TJ, Mellor, DJ, Johnson, CB and Lentle, RG 2007 Responsiveness to painful stimuli in anaesthetised newborn and young animals of varying neurological maturity (wallaby joeys, rat pups and lambs). AATEX 14(S): 549–552Google Scholar
Dubner, R, Hoffman, DS and Hayes, RL 1981 Neuronal activity in medullary dorsal horn of awake monkeys trained in a thermal discrimination task III. Task-related responses and their functional role. Journal of Neurophysiology 46: 444–64CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Duncan, IJH and Petherick, JC 1991 The implications of cognitive processes for animal welfare. Journal of Animal Science 69: 5017–5022CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Edney, A 1989 Killing with kindness. Veterinary Record 124: 320–322CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
European Commission (EC) 2008 On Animal Welfare Labelling on Products of Animal Origin: Summary Report of the Working group of the Advisory Group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health D5/JD D(2008). EC: Brussels, BelgiumGoogle Scholar
FAWC 1998 Report on the Implications of Cloning for the Welfare of Farmed Livestock. FAWC: London, UKGoogle Scholar
FAWC 2006 Report on Welfare Labelling. FAWC: London, UKGoogle Scholar
FAWC 2009 Farm Animal Welfare in Great Britain: Past, Present and Future. FAWC: London, UKGoogle Scholar
Feldman Barrett, L and Russell, JA 1998 Independence and bipolarity in the structure of current affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 74: 967–984CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ford, GK, Moriarty, O, McGuire, BE and Finn, DP 2008 Investigating the effects of distracting stimuli on nociceptive behaviour and associated alterations in brain monoamines in rats. European Journal of Pain 12(8): 970–979CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Fraser, D 1999 Animal ethics and animal welfare science: bridging the two cultures. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 65: 171–189CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fraser, D and Duncan, IJ 1998 ‘Pleasures’, ‘pains’ and animal welfare: toward a natural history of affect. Animal Welfare 7: 383–396Google Scholar
Fraser, D, Weary, DM, Pajor, EA and Milligan, BN 1997 A scientific concept of animal welfare that reflects ethical concerns. Animal Welfare 6: 187–205Google Scholar
Gentle, MJ 2001 Attentional shifts alter pain perception in the chicken. Animal Welfare 10: S187–194Google Scholar
Goddard, PJ 2008 The management of sheep. In: Dwyer, CM (ed) The Welfare of Sheep pp 291–324. Springer: Dordrecht, The NetherlandsCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Graham, MJ, Kent, KE and Molony, V 1997 Effects of four analgesic treatments on the behavioural and cortisol responses of 3-week-old lambs to tail docking. The Veterinary Journal 153: 87–97CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Green, LE, Lewis, K, Kimpton, A and Nicol, CJ 2000 Cross-sectional study of the prevalence of feather pecking in laying hens in alternative systems and its associations with management and disease. Veterinary Record 147(9): 233–238CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Gregory, NG 2004 Physiology and Behaviour of Animal Suffering. UFAW Animal Welfare Series. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harding, EJ, Paul, ES and Mendl, M 2004 Animal behaviour: cognitive bias and affective state. Nature 427(6972): 312CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hewson, CJ, Hiby, EF and Bradshaw, JWS 2007 Assessing quality-of-life in companion and kennelled dogs: a critical review. Animal Welfare 16(S): 89–95Google Scholar
Hughes, BO 1973 Animal welfare and the intensive housing of domestic fowls. Veterinary Record 93: 658–662CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huxley, JN, Burke, J, Roderick, S, Main, DCJ and Whay, HR 2004 Animal welfare assessment benchmarking as a tool for health and welfare planning in organic dairy herds. Veterinary Record 155: 237–239CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Huxtable, R 2007 Euthanasia: Ethics and the Law. Routledge-Cavendish: Oxford, UKCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jongman, EC, Morris, JP, Barnett, JL and Hemsworth, PH 2000 EEG changes in 4-week-old lambs in response to castration, tail docking, and mulesing. Australian Veterinary Journal 78: 339–343CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kent, JE, Molony, V and Robertson, IS 1993 Changes in plasma cortisol concentration in lambs of three ages after three methods of castration and tail docking. Research in Veterinary Science 55: 246–251CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kirkwood, JK 2010 Darwinian selection, selective breeding and the welfare of animals. Animal Welfare 19(S): 1–5Google Scholar
Kirkwood, JK and Hubrecht, R 2001 Animal consciousness, cognition and welfare. Animal Welfare 10: S5–17Google Scholar
LaCroix-Fralish, ML and Mogil, JS 2009 Progress in genetic studies of pain and analgesia. Annual Review of Pharmacology and Toxicology 49: 97–121CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lariviere, WR, Wilson, SG, Laughlin, TM, Kokayeff, A, West, EE, Adhikari, SM, Wan, Y and Mogil, JS 2002 Heritability of nociception III. Genetic relationships among commonly used assays of nociception and hypersensitivity. Pain 97: 75–86CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lee, C and Fisher, AD 2007 Welfare consequences of mulesing of sheep. Australian Veterinary Journal 85: 89–93CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lomax, S, Sheil, M and Windsor, PA 2008 Impact of topical anaesthesia on pain alleviation and wound healing in lambs after mulesing. Australian Veterinary Journal 86: 159–168CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lund, V and Olsson, AS 2006 Animal agriculture: symbiosis, culture or ethical conflict? Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 19: 47–56CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McGreevy, PD 2007 Breeding for quality of life. Animal Welfare 16: 125–128Google Scholar
McMillan, FD 2003 Maximising quality of life in ill animals. Journal of the American Animal Hospital Association 39: 227–235CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meagher, RK 2009 Observer ratings: validity and value as a tool for animal welfare research. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 119: 1–14CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mogil, JS, Wilson, SG, Bon, K, Lee, SE, Chung, K, Raber, P, Pieper, JO, Hain, HS, Belknap, JK, Hubert, L, Elmer, GI, Chung, JM and Devor, M 1999a Heritability of nociception I. Responses of eleven inbred mouse strains on twelve measures of nociception. Pain 80: 67–82CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mogil, JS, Wilson, SG, Bon, K, Lee, SE, Chung, K, Raber, P, Pieper, JO, Hain, HS, Belknap, JK, Hubert, L, Elmer, GI, Chung, JM and Devor, M 1999b Heritability of nociception II ‘Types’ of nociception revealed by genetic correlation analysis. Pain 80: 83–93CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Morris, MC 2000 Ethical issues associated with sheep fly strike research, prevention, and control Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 13: 205–217CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Morton, DB 2007 A hypothetical strategy for the objective evaluation of animal well-being and quality of life using a dog model. Animal Welfare 16: S75–S81Google Scholar
Nordenfelt, L 2006 Animal and Human Health and Welfare: A Comparative Philosophical Analysis. CABI: Wallingford, UKGoogle Scholar
Paul, ES, Harding, EJ and Mendl, M 2005 Measuring emotional processes in animals: the utility of a cognitive approach. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 29(3): 469–491CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paull, DR, Lee, C, Colditz, IG, Atkinson, SJ and Fisher, AD 2007 The effect of a topical anaesthetic formulation, systemic flunixin and carprofen, singly or in combination, on cortisol and behavioural responses of merino lambs to mulesing. Australian Veterinary Journal 85: 98–106CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Paulsen, M 2010 Report on evaluation and assessment of the Animal Welfare Action Plan 2006-2010. European Parliament Session Document A7-0053/2010. European Parliament: Brussels, Belgium. http://www.europarl.europa.eu/sides/getDoc.do?type=REPORT&reference=A7-2010-0053&language=ENGoogle Scholar
Peers, A, Mellor, DJ, Wintour, EM and Dodic, M 2002 Blood pressure, heart rate, hormonal and other acute responses to rubber-ring castration and tail docking of lambs. New Zealand Veterinary Journal 50: 56–62CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Phillips, CJC 2009 A review of mulesing and other methods to control flystrike (cutaneous myiasis) in sheep. Animal Welfare 18: 113–121Google Scholar
Prescott, MJ, Morton, DB, Anderson, D, Buckwell, A, Heath, S, Hubrecht, R, Jennings, M, Ruance, B, Swallow, J and Thompson, P 2004 Refining dog husbandry and care. Eighth report of the BVA AWF/FRAME/RSPCA/UFAW Joint Working Group on Refinement. Laboratory Animals 38(S3): 1–90CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rafaeli, E and Revelle, W 2006 A premature consensus: are happiness and sadness truly opposite affects? Motivation and Emotion 30: 1–12CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Regan, T 1983 The Case for Animal Rights. University of California Press: Berkeley, USAGoogle Scholar
Russell, JA 1980 A circumplex model of affect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 39: 1161–1178CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Russell, JA and Carroll, JM 1999 On the bipolarity of positive and negative affect. Psychological Bulletin 125: 3–30CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sandøe, P, Christiansen, SB and Appleby, MC 2003 Farm animal welfare: the interaction of ethical questions and animal welfare science. Animal Welfare 12(4): 469–478Google Scholar
Sandøe, P, Crisp, R and Holtug, N 1997 Ethics. In: Appleby, MC and Hughes, BO (eds) Animal Welfare pp 3–17. CABI: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Scherer, KR, Dan, ES and Flykt, A 2006 What determines a feeling's position in affective space? A case for appraisal. Cognition and Emotion 20(1): 92–113CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shir, Y, Zeltser, R, Vatine, JJ, Carmi, G, Belfer, I, Zangen, A, Overstreet, D, Raber, P and Seltzer, Z 2001 Correlation of intact sensibility and neuropathic pain-related behaviors in eight inbred and outbred rat strains and selection lines. Pain 90: 75–82CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shutt, DA, Fell, LR, Connell, R, Bell, AK, Wallace, CA and Smith, AI 1987 Stress-induced changes in plasma concentrations of immunoreactive β-endorphin and cortisol in response to routine surgical procedures in lambs. Australian Journal of Biological Science 40: 97–103CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sørensen, JT and Sandøe, P 2001 Assessment of Animal Welfare at Farm and Group Level. Taylor and Francis: Dublin, IrelandGoogle Scholar
Spruijt, BM, van den Bos, R and Pijlman, FTA 2001 A concept of welfare based on reward evaluating mechanisms in the brain: anticipatory behaviour as an indicator for the state of reward systems. Applied Animal Behavioural Science 72: 145–171CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Tannenbaum, J 1991 Ethics and animal welfare: the inextricable connection. Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 198: 1360–1376Google ScholarPubMed
Thornton, PD and Waterman-Pearson, AE 2002 Behavioural responses to castration in lambs. Animal Welfare 11: 203–212Google Scholar
Veissier, I and Boissy, A 2007 Stress and welfare: two complementary concepts that are intrinsically related to the animal's point of view. Physiology & Behavior 92: 429–433CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wathes, C 2008 Getting on the front foot: Welfare policy and labelling. Working Group of the Advisory Group on the Food Chain and Animal and Plant Health. 21 April 2008. Available at http://ec.europa.eu/food/committees/advisory/fawc.pdfGoogle Scholar
Wathes, C 2010 Lives worth living? Veterinary Record 166: 468–469CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Webster, AJF 1994 Animal Welfare: A Cool Eye Towards Eden. Blackwell Publishing: Oxford, UKGoogle Scholar
Webster, AJF 2005 The assessment and implementation of animal welfare: theory into practice. Revue Scientifique et Technique. Office International des Epizooties 24: 723–734CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wemelsfelder, F 1997 The scientific validity of subjective concepts in models of animal welfare. Applied Animal Behaviour Science 53: 75–88CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wickens, S 2010 A life worth living? A strategy for UK farm animals in the 21st Century that moves on from just the prevention of poor welfare. Animal Welfare 19(1): 107–108Google Scholar
Widowski, TM and Duncan, IJH 2000 Working for a dustbath: Are hens increasing pleasure rather than reducing suffering? Applied Animal Behaviour Science 68(1): 39–53CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeates, J 2009 Death is a welfare issue. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics 23(3): 229–240CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeates, J 2010 The value of pleasure and pain in welfare ethics. Animal Welfare 19(S): 29–38Google Scholar
Yeates, J and Main, DCJ 2008 Positive welfare: a review. The Veterinary Journal 175: 293–300CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Yeates, J and Main, DCJ 2009 Assessment of companion animal QOL in research and practice. Journal of Small Animal Practice 50(6): 274–281CrossRefGoogle Scholar