Animal Rights or Animal Welfare?
The terms 'animal rights' and 'animal welfare' are often used interchangeably in the media. There is, however, a huge difference between the two.
The Foundation for Biomedical Research describes the difference as:
"Animal welfare is a human responsibility that encompasses all aspects of animal well-being. It is the fundamental recognition that all people - including medical research scientists - have a moral obligation to treat animals humanely and responsibly.
Animal rights, on the other hand, is the philosophical notion that humans and animals have the same legal rights - in the animal rights movement, there is no difference between a rat and sick child - which is their basis for opposing the involvement of any animals, for any purpose, in any medical research."
Related Links
Animal welfare vs animal rights
The Foundation for Biomedical Research summarises the differences between animal welfare and animal rights.
Animal Rights: a guide to the movement
Even though a couple of these groups no longer exist, this article from the Guardian (published 21 July 2004) gives a good overview of campaigning organisations in the UK.
Animal rights is not animal welfare - www.animalscam.com
AnimalScam.com is run by the Center for Consumer Freedom (CCF). The CCF is mainly funded from restaurants and food companies but aims to make the public aware of the agenda of the more extreme animal rights organisations.
Negotiating animal rights
On this Channel 4 website, Dr Kate Rawls describes the issues and philosophy behind animal rights.
The Ethics of Research involving Animals
This report by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics (published May 2005) seeks to clarify the debate and aims to help people think through the ethical issues that are raised by animal research.
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