Document type: book review published in Animals
Author: David Fraser
Preview: This information-dense book, edited by two academics and an expert in law, was designed as a "comprehensive exploration of the rapidly growing fields of animal welfare and law". It packs a huge amount of information and a wide range of topics into its 507 pages written by 50 authors, many of whom are established authorities.
The book opens with three general chapters on "animal welfare fundamentals". [...] In Chapter 1, the eminent veterinarian-academic John Webster uses only eight pages to address "The moral status of animals" by covering such topics as the Five Freedoms, duty of care, sentience and consciousness. [...] Next, Donald Broom covers "Animal welfare concepts", including welfare, health, stress, needs, and affective experience, with similar brevity. And Harry Blokhuis and Isabelle Veissier (well known for the Welfare Quality© project) give a brief but valuable overview of different approaches to assessing animal welfare.
Part II contains nine chapters on animal farming, transport, slaughter and euthanasia, with one chapter on each of poultry, pigs, cattle, fish farming, transport and other topics. Each is a remarkably concise overview of complex topics. [...]The next two sections continue this high-level coverage by focusing on animals used in non-agricultural settings including science and education, entertainment and commercial fishing (Part III), followed by additional species-specific chapters including canines, felines, equines, companion fish, and marine mammals living in human care (Part IV). [...]I especially welcomed Part V which provides an introduction to three emerging topics: climate change, animals in disaster management, and the links between animal welfare and human health. Again, the brevity means that these are very concise introductions to complex topics. [...]Who will benefit most from this book? Students, veterinarians, and animal welfare scientists might use it to gain a high-level overview of topics outside their specialty. [...] However, with such condensed coverage of technical subjects and roughly a third of the book focused on animal law and social change, I think advocacy workers are the ideal audience. The book would allow them to identify key issues that merit their attention; it outlines different avenues for social change, and it could connect them with others who are trying to achieve better welfare for animals in different parts of the world.
The hardcover book is priced at USD 224 as of mid 2023, but thanks to donations from three animal-advocacy organizations, the contents are available free for download or online reading at : https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003182351 (accessed on 29 June 2023).
