Animal Welfare, Vegans and Vivisection
Animal Welfare - Morally Acceptable for Humans
Animal welfare refers to the viewpoint that it is morally acceptable for humans to use nonhuman animals in certain ways-for example, as food-so long as unnecessary suffering is avoided. This is contrasted with the animal rights position, which holds that other animals should not be used by humans, and should not be regarded as their property.
Systematic concern for the well-being of other animals probably arose in the Indus Valley Civilization as the religious ancestors return in animal form, and that animals must therefore be killed with the respect due to a human. This belief is exemplified in the existing religion, Jainism, and in varieties of other Indian religions. Other religions, specially those with roots in the Abrahamic religions, treat animals as the property of their owners, codifying rules for their care and slaughter intended to limit the distress, pain and fear animals experience under human control.
The UK government commissioned an investigation into the welfare of intensively farmed animals from Professor Roger Brambell in 1965, partly in response to concerns raised in Ruth Harrison's 1964 book, Animal Machines. On the basis of Professor Brambell's report, the UK government set up the Farm Animal Welfare Advisory Committee in 1967, which became the Farm Animal Welfare Council in 1979. The committee's first guidelines recommended that animals require the freedoms to 'turn around, to groom themselves, to get up, to lie down and to stretch their limbs'. These have since been elaborated to become known as the Five Freedoms of animal welfare:
The five freedoms
Freedom from thirst and hunger
Freedom from discomfort
Freedom from pain, injury, and disease
Freedom to express normal behavior
Freedom from fear and distress
Vegans and Veganism
Veganism is a diet and lifestyle that seeks to exclude the use of animals for food, clothing, or any other purpose. Vegans endeavor not to use or consume animal products of any kind. The most common reasons for becoming a vegan are ethical commitment or moral conviction concerning animal rights, the environment, human health, and spiritual or religious concerns. Of particular concern to many vegans are the practices involved in factory farming and animal testing, and the intensive use of land and other resources for animal farming.
Vegan diets (sometimes called strict or pure vegetarian diets) are a subset of vegetarian diets. Properly planned vegan diets are healthful and have been found to satisfy nutritional needs. Poorly planned vegan diets can be low in levels of calcium, iodine, vitamin B12 and vitamin D. Vegans are therefore encouraged to plan their diet and take dietary supplements as appropriate. Various polls have reported vegans to be between 0.2% and 1.3%of the U.S. population, and between 0.25% and 0.4% of the UK population.
The Vegan Society was founded in 1944 by Donald Watson and Elsie Shrigley, in response to the broadening of the term "vegetarian" to include the eating of dairy products. The first vegan society in the United States was founded in California in 1948 by Dr. Catherine Nimmo and Rubin Abramowitz, and was subsequently incorporated into the the American Vegan Society after its founding in 1960 by Jay Dinshah. In 1984, a 'breakaway' group from the Vegan Society, the Movement for Compassionate Living was founded by former Vegan Society secretary Kathleen Jannaway to promote sustainable living and self-sufficiency in addition to veganism.Today, there are many vegan societies worldwide, including national societies in Australia, India, New Zealand, and South Africa. In 1993, the advocacy organization which would become Vegan Outreach was founded by Matt Ball and Jack Norris.
In 1994, the annual World Vegan Day was established on November 1st, the day of the Vegan Society's founding
Vivisection - Surgery Conducted upon a Living Organism
From Latin vivus ("alive") + sectio ("cutting"), Vivisection is surgery conducted upon a living organism, typically animals with a central nervous system, to directly view living internal structure for purposes other than the health of the subject.
A broader interpretation includes non-behavioural experimental research involving living animals. This is the intended meaning when used by those opposed to animal experimentation in general. In the scientific community, vivisection for living tissue study has been superseded by modern techniques.[citation needed]
Non-arbitrary research requiring vivisection techniques that cannot be met through other means are often subject to an external ethics review in conception and implementation, and in many jurisdictions, use of anaesthesia is legally mandated for any surgery likely to cause pain to any vertebrate. In the U.S., the Animal Welfare Act explicitly requires that any procedure that may cause pain utilize "tranquilizers, analgesics, and anesthetics" unless absolutely necessary