

The Science of Animal Welfare
Understanding What Animals Want
Author: Marian Stamp Dawkins
Narrator: Esther Wane
Unabridged: 5 hr 12 min
Format: Digital Audiobook Download
Publisher: Tantor Media
Published: 04/13/2021
Categories: Nonfiction, Medical, Veterinary Medicine, Nature, Animals
Synopsis
Defining welfare as "health and what animals want" allows us to distinguish between measures that are simply what an animal does when it is alert, aroused, or active and those measures that genuinely allow us to distinguish between situations the animals themselves see as positive or negative. Sentience is for many people the essence of what is meant by welfare, but studying consciousness is notoriously difficult, particularly in non-human species. These difficulties are discussed in the context of our current—and as yet incomplete—knowledge of human and animal consciousness. Finally, the book highlights some key ideas in the relationship between animal welfare science and animal ethics and shows how closely the well-being of humans is linked to that of other animals.