ethical issues in animal biotechnology paul b. thompson w.k. kellogg professor of agricultural, food...
TRANSCRIPT
Ethical Issues in Animal Biotechnology
Paul B. Thompson
W.K. Kellogg Professor of Agricultural, Food and Community Ethics
Michigan State University
Advisory Committee on 21st Century Agriculture
November 28, 2007
Ownershipof Life
ConsumerChoice
Animals in Research
Animal Welfare“”UnnaturalAnimals"
EnvironmentalImpact
Impact on Farmsand Farming
“The GeneticDivide”
Globalization& Precaution
Ethical Issuesin Animal
Biotechnology
Ownershipof Life
ConsumerChoice
Animals in Research
Animal Welfare“”UnnaturalAnimals"
EnvironmentalImpact
Impact on Farmsand Farming
“The GeneticDivide”
Globalization& Precaution
Ethical Issuesin Animal
Biotechnology
Two Problems
• The rBST Problem (briefly)
• The Blind Chicken Problem
• And a concluding note on consumer choice
Two Problems
• The rBST Problem
rBSTMoreMilk
HealthIssues
AnimalWelfare
Two Problems
• The rBST Problem
rBSTMoreMilk
LowerWelfare
BasicCow
Genetics
RotationalGrazing
AnimalWelfare
rBST was deemed “acceptable” on animal health grounds.
Basic problem: a genetic technology linked to a welfare problem that can also be caused by other accepted practices.
My 15 Minutes of Fame
There's a strain of chickens that are blind, and this was not produced through biotechnology. It was actually an accident that got developed into a particular strain of chickens. Now blind chickens, it turns out, don't mind being crowded together so much as normal chickens do. And so one suggestion is that, `Well, we ought to shift over to all blind chickens as a solution to our animal welfare problems that are associated with crowding in the poultry industry.' Is this permissible on animal welfare grounds? Here, we have what I think is a real philosophical conundrum. If you think that it's the welfare of the individual animal that really matters here, how the animals are doing, then it would be more humane to have these blind chickens. On the other hand, almost everybody that you ask thinks this is an absolutely horrendous thing to do.
Paul Thompson quoted by David Kastenbaum, Morning Edition, December 4, 2001. Transcript available online at www.npr.org
Strategies for relieving stress or adverse
impact on livestock that use genetics to
a) reduce sensory capacity;
b) eliminate or moderate behavioral drives;
c) alter species-typical behavior.
The Blind Chicken Problem
The Ethical Rationale for Blind Chicken Strategies: Concept of Animal Welfare
Animal Natures
Animal MindsAnimal Bodies
Mortality,Morbidity,
PhysiologicalStress
Pain,Discomfort,
PsychologicalStress
Movement,Ability to
perform speciestypical behavior
Blind Chicken Strategies
• reduce sensory capacity;
• eliminate behavioral drives;
• alter species-typical behavior.
Animal Minds
Pain,Discomfort,
PsychologicalStress
Mortality,Morbidity,
PhysiologicalStress
Animal Bodies
Possible Ethical Problems with Blind Chickens: Welfare Specification
•reduce sensory capacity;•eliminate behavioral drives;•alter species-typical behavior.
Animal NaturesWelfare Thesis
Need for movement and expressing genetic drives are important to the extent
that an individual actually experiences
these needs.
If they do not help an animal cope with itsenvironment, simply having a need does
not contribute towelfare
An individual animal that has no drive to perform a species typical behavior
would not be frustrated by living in an environment
where the behavior could not be performed.
Possible Ethical Problems with Blind Chickens: Welfare Specification
•reduce sensory capacity;•eliminate behavioral drives;•alter species-typical behavior.
Animal NaturesAlternative View
Possession of species-typical genetic drives andand behavioral abilities
is a fundamentalcomponent of animal natures. Animals that lack such
drives and abilities are“worse off” than con-
specifics that have them.
Alternative ViewPossession of species-
typical genetic drives andand behavioral abilities
is a fundamentalcomponent of animal natures.
• Implication: The conundrum. What theory says is right is something no one accepts as right.
• Implication: One seems willing to endorse a situation where animals suffer over one where they do not (or suffer less).
Welfare ThesisNeed for movement and expressing genetic drives are important to the extent
that an individual actually experiences
these needs.
A 3rd Point of View:
The “Virtues” Objection
It may appear that animal scientists andthe livestock industry are willing to do
anything to protect profits.Animal Natures are seen by them
simply as a means to this end.
You advocate blinding chickens!?!
The ethical issue here does not consist in harm to the animal, but reflects a putative deficiency in
the moral character of the agent.
Ownershipof Life
ConsumerChoice
Animals in Research
Animal Welfare“”UnnaturalAnimals"
EnvironmentalImpact
Impact on Farmsand Farming
“The GeneticDivide”
Globalization& Precaution
Ethical Issuesin Animal
Biotechnology
ConsumerChoice
Does the presence of these possible ethical questions provide a reason why consumers should be able to “opt out” of products from cloned or genetically engineered livestock?
Thank-you for listening.
Food Biotechnology in Ethical Perspective 2nd Edition
http://www.springer.com