MSGID: 1:317/3 64a7951d   
   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Policymakers should consider animal welfare in decisions    
    Important policy debates about the food system and climate change can   
   benefit from accounting for animal well-being    
      
     Date:   
         July 6, 2023   
     Source:   
         Rutgers University   
     Summary:   
         Incorporating animal welfare into policymaking may improve policy   
         and practice, according to new research. The article notes that   
         animal welfare rarely is considered during policymaking, explains   
         why current tools make it difficult to incorporate the well-being   
         of animals into public policy and identifies methods for remedying   
         these issues.   
      
      
         Facebook Twitter Pinterest LinkedIN Email   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   Incorporating animal welfare into policymaking may improve policy and   
   practice, according to Rutgers research.   
      
   The article, published in Science, notes that animal welfare rarely   
   is considered during policymaking, explains why current tools make it   
   difficult to incorporate the well-being of animals into public policy   
   and identifies methods for remedying these issues.   
      
   "Animal welfare is often ignored in policymaking, despite its relevance   
   across many domains ranging from food systems to biomedical research to   
   climate policy," said Mark Budolfson, a faculty member of the Center   
   for Population- Level Bioethics at the Rutgers Institute for Health,   
   Health Care Policy and Aging Research and coauthor of the study. "Part of   
   the reason animal welfare is ignored is that policymakers currently lack   
   established methods for integrating animal welfare into decision-making."   
   According to the researchers, there are well-developed tools for   
   incorporating human welfare into policy analysis, but comparable   
   tools for incorporating animal welfare are in their earliest stages of   
   development. For example, no- kill animal shelters help offset public   
   discomfort with euthanizing unwanted animals. A policy question might   
   be: Should these animal shelters be publicly subsidized to avoid having   
   to euthanize pets if those subsidies diverted resources from other   
   human interests?  New tools, such as those presented by study authors,   
   may help policymakers assess the welfare impacts of a policy like this   
   on humans and animals on a common scale.   
      
   "It is commonplace for decision makers to weigh the costs and benefits   
   of different policies. We describe emerging methods that allow animal   
   welfare impacts to be included in those calculations," said Bob Fischer,   
   coauthor of the study and an associate professor in the Department of   
   Philosophy at Texas State University.   
      
   Authors of the study suggested conducing interdisciplinary research to   
   develop and refine methods for quantifying interspecies welfare; utilizing   
   measurable correlations between animals and humans; and ensuring animal   
   welfare is included in policy debates.   
      
   "There are so many areas where animal welfare matters, such as when   
   governments aim to improve farm productivity while reducing land use   
   and greenhouse gas emissions," said Budolfson, a faculty member of the   
   Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the Rutgers School   
   of Public Health who is also affiliated with the Population Wellbeing   
   Initiative at the University of Texas at Austin. "Unfortunately, some of   
   the most straightforward ways of doing this have negative implications for   
   animal welfare, so policymakers should ask 'When, if ever, is it better   
   to increase environmental sustainability if it reduces animal welfare?'"   
   "The bottom line is that it's a mistake to ignore the effect of our   
   public policies on wild and domestic animals," said Noah Scovronick,   
   coauthor of the study and a faculty member at Rollins School of Public   
   Health at Emory University. "Our decisions affect other species, and in   
   turn other species affect us, whether it's through diseases that can be   
   transmitted back and forth, through the productivity of our food supply,   
   or any of many other possible examples."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Agriculture_and_Food # Zoology # Behavioral_Science   
             o Earth_&_Climate   
                   # Environmental_Policy # Rainforests #   
                   Environmental_Awareness   
             o Science_&_Society   
                   # STEM_Education # Educational_Policy # Scientific_Conduct   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Funding_policies_for_science o Animal_cognition o   
             Animal_rights o Rotifer o Gastrointestinal_tract o Carnivore   
             o Government o Camouflage   
      
   ==========================================================================   
      
    Print   
      
    Email   
      
    Share   
   ==========================================================================   
   ****** 1 ****** ***** 2 ***** **** 3 ****   
   *** 4 *** ** 5 ** Breaking this hour   
   ==========================================================================   
       * First_Snapshots_of_Fermion_Pairs *   
       Why_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali;_No_Tigers_in_Australia   
       * New_Route_for_Treating_Cancer:_Chromosomes *   
       Giant_Stone_Artefacts_Found:_Prehistoric_Tools   
       * Astonishing_Secrets_of_Tunicate_Origins *   
       Most_Distant_Active_Supermassive_Black_Hole *   
       Creative_People_Enjoy_Idle_Time_More_Than_Others   
       * Restoring_Fragile_X_Protein_Production *   
       Earth's_Solid_Metal_Sphere_Is_'Textured' *   
       Elephants_Vary_Their_Dinner_Menu_Day-To-Day   
      
   Trending Topics this week   
   ==========================================================================   
   PLANTS_&_ANIMALS Biochemistry_Research Insects_(including_Butterflies)   
   Wild_Animals EARTH_&_CLIMATE Air_Pollution Ice_Ages Pollution   
   FOSSILS_&_RUINS Ancient_Civilizations Cultures Early_Climate   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Strange & Offbeat   
   ==========================================================================   
   PLANTS_&_ANIMALS   
   Why_There_Are_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali_(and_No_Tigers_in_Australia)   
   Number_Cruncher_Calculates_Whether_Whales_Are_Acting_Weirdly   
   Fossils_Reveal_How_Ancient_Birds_Molted_Their_Feathers_--_Which_Could_Help   
   Explain_Why_Ancestors_of_Modern_Birds_Survived_When_All_the_Other_Dinosaurs   
   Died EARTH_&_CLIMATE   
   Why_There_Are_No_Kangaroos_in_Bali_(and_No_Tigers_in_Australia)   
   Turning_Old_Maps_Into_3D_Digital_Models_of_Lost_Neighborhoods   
   Squash_Bugs_Are_Attracted_to_and_Eat_Each_Other's_Poop_to_Stock_Their   
   Microbiome FOSSILS_&_RUINS   
   Giant_Stone_Artefacts_Found_on_Rare_Ice_Age_Site_in_Kent,_UK   
   How_Urea_May_Have_Been_the_Gateway_to_Life   
   Newly_Discovered_Jurassic_Fossils_in_Texas Story Source: Materials   
   provided by Rutgers_University. Original written by Nicole Swenarton.   
      
   Note: Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Mark Budolfson, Bob Fischer, Noah Scovronick. Animal welfare:   
      Methods to   
         improve policy and practice. Science, 2023; 381 (6653): 32 DOI:   
         10.1126/ science.adi0121   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230706152651.htm   
      
   --- up 1 year, 18 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 50 minutes   
    * Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1:317/3)   
   SEEN-BY: 15/0 106/201 114/705 123/120 153/7715 218/700 226/30 227/114   
   SEEN-BY: 229/110 112 113 307 317 400 426 428 470 664 700 291/111 292/854   
   SEEN-BY: 298/25 305/3 317/3 320/219 396/45 5075/35   
   PATH: 317/3 229/426