Human poverty and animal welfare-ethical dilemmas
A Talk by Hanna Mamzer MA, PHD (Professor, Adam Mickiewicz University)
About this Talk
There is quite new approach of „One Health” which is popularized within veterinary sciences. According to this idea, human health is strictly connected with animal health and those two cannot be analyzed separately. The notion of health should be understood here in the broad sense, meaning it consists of many elements: somatic health, emotional balance, psychological welfare and also general wellbeing. This last element is strictly related to the economic and financial resources available to a person. Living in poor conditions forcing to fight for survival pushes aside the welfare of animals in a very understandable way. This is also true on a wider level of the human relation to the nature: in poor regions nature is exploited and destroyed as basic physiological human needs have to be fulfilled. In such conditions animal welfare as well as general state of natural resources become less important than satisfying immediate basic needs. In my presentation I will try to indicate sociological and cultural links between human poverty and animal welfare. My main hypothesis is that lack of financial resources decreases access to education (and knowledge) which may result in animal exploitation and neglecting of animal needs. I will try to analyze possible ethical dilemmas arising around this issue.
Learning Objectives:
By the end of this presentation, attendees will learn about links between human poverty and animal welfare
By the end of this presentation, attendees will learn about red flags in human lifestyles, that may indicate lower animal welfare
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