Document type : Online prepublication of an article from the Bulletin de l'Académie vétérinaire de France
Author: Pierre Mormède
Preview: The issue of relationships between humans and other animals is a long-running one that has become increasingly important in public debate in recent years. Whether it is debated in the context of food production, the use of animals for biological and medical research, pets or of wildlife (captive or free), our relationship with animals is repeatedly scrutinised, often leading to the questioning of practices such as the confinement of wild animals in circuses and zoos, the conditions under which farm animals are raised, the living conditions of pets, and hunting. Into these questions are fed philosophical reflections on the status of humans in the animal kingdom and the moral and legal relationships between humans and other animals (Jeangène Vilmer, 2018). They also take into account developments in scientific knowledge on the psychological capacities of animals (Le Neindre et al. 2009; 2017). The issue of welfare has crystallised those approaches seeking to provide animals with living conditions that respect their ethological needs, serving as a central node for numerous sometimes contradictory influences, be they philosophical and moral, scientific, technological, regulatory or societal (Mormede et al. 2018). The foundations for this reflection were laid more than half a century ago (see Hediger, 1950; 1955, on wild animals in captivity; Russell and Burch, 1959, on the use of animals in experiments; and the Brambell Report (HMSO, 1965), on livestock), but the genuine interest of the public in this issue is of much more recent date in Europe (European Commission, 2016). Animal welfare has gradually come to be a factor for professionals in the livestock, agri-food and distribution sectors (BBFAW, 2019). It is now a major issue for the future development of livestock farming and occupies an important place in all animal sector development plans in France, echoing the national strategy "Animal welfare at the heart of a sustainable activity" (https://agr iculture.gouv.fr/2016-2020-une-strategie-globale-pour-le-bien-etre-des-animaux-en-france). One important achievement has been the establishment in 2017 of the French Reference Centre for Animal Welfare (www.cnr-bea.fr). And, since then, the issue of animal welfare has moved further up the political agenda. Because of their training and their position in the field, veterinarians should be at the heart of this human-animal relationship, as the 'expert guarantors of animal welfare' (French Ordre national des vétérinaires, 2015).
