scholarly journals Animal Mistreatment in Business: Ethical Challenges and Solutions

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 159 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuanfang Wang ◽  
Peng Chan

Animal mistreatment in businesses around the world is becoming a hotly debated topic. Many animal welfare laws protect wild animals and pets, but make exemptions for animals in farms, zoos or labs. There are economic benefits behind animal mistreatment since businesses can maximize profits by, for example, raising animals in crowded spaces, or forcing them to perform shows. However, ethical arguments on this issue reveal that animal mistreatment may actually cost more than humane animal treatment. Furthermore, consumer awareness on animal mistreatments is increasing, so this poses both a threat and opportunity to businesses. As society puts more and more value on sustainable green business today, inhumane animal treatments may harm a company's reputation and reduce its sales. Businesses should be aware of this trend and examine new humane alternatives to their traditional practices in order to stay competitive in the market.

The effective altruism movement consists of a growing global community of people who organize significant parts of their lives around two key ideas, represented in its name. Altruism: If we use a significant portion of the resources in our possession—whether money, time, or talents—with a view to helping others, we can improve the world considerably. Effectiveness: When we do put such resources to altruistic use, it is crucial to focus on how much good this or that intervention is reasonably expected to do per unit of resource expended (for example, per dollar donated). While global poverty is a widely used case study in introducing and motivating effective altruism, if the ultimate aim is to do the most good one can with the resources expended, it is far from obvious that global poverty alleviation is highest priority cause area. In addition to ranking possible poverty-alleviation interventions against one another, we can also try to rank interventions aimed at very different types of outcome against one another. This includes, for example, interventions focusing on animal welfare or future generations. The scale and organization of the effective altruism movement encourage careful dialogue on questions that have perhaps long been there, throwing them into new and sharper relief, and giving rise to previously unnoticed questions. In the present volume, the first of its kind, a group of internationally recognized philosophers, economists, and political theorists contribute in-depth explorations of issues that arise once one takes seriously the twin ideas of altruistic commitment and effectiveness.


Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1624
Author(s):  
Mario Forzan ◽  
Maria Irene Pacini ◽  
Marcello Periccioli ◽  
Maurizio Mazzei

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) is a waterborne and foodborne pathogen largely spread around the world. HEV is responsible for acute hepatitis in humans and it is also diffused in domestic and wild animals. In particular, domestic pigs represent the main reservoir of the infection and particular attention should be paid to the consumption of raw and undercooked meat as a possible zoonotic vehicle of the pathogen. Several studies have reported the presence of HEV in wild boar circulating in European countries with similar prevalence rates. In this study, we evaluated the occurrence of HEV in wild boar hunted in specific areas of Tuscany. Sampling was performed by collecting liver samples and also by swabbing the carcasses at the slaughterhouses following hunting activities. Our data indicated that 8/67 (12%) of liver samples and 4/67 (6%) of swabs were positive for HEV RNA. The presence of HEV genome on swabs indicates the possible cross-contamination of carcass surfaces during slaughtering procedures. Altogether, our data indicated that it is essential to promote health education programmes for hunters and consumers to limit the diffusion of the pathogen to humans.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiao Xiao ◽  
Chris Newman ◽  
Christina D. Buesching ◽  
David W. Macdonald ◽  
Zhao-Min Zhou

AbstractHere we document 47,381 individuals from 38 species, including 31 protected species sold between May 2017 and November 2019 in Wuhan’s markets. We note that no pangolins (or bats) were traded, supporting reformed opinion that pangolins were not likely the spillover host at the source of the current coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. While we caution against the misattribution of COVID-19’s origins, the wild animals on sale in Wuhan suffered poor welfare and hygiene conditions and we detail a range of other zoonotic infections they can potentially vector. Nevertheless, in a precautionary response to COVID-19, China’s Ministries temporarily banned all wildlife trade on 26th Jan 2020 until the COVID-19 pandemic concludes, and permanently banned eating and trading terrestrial wild (non-livestock) animals for food on 24th Feb 2020. These interventions, intended to protect human health, redress previous trading and enforcement inconsistencies, and will have collateral benefits for global biodiversity conservation and animal welfare.


PEDIATRICS ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 46 (5) ◽  
pp. 821-822
Author(s):  
George M. Johnson

Considering that the article "Rabies: Rare Disease, Serious Problem" in the May 1970 Pediatrics1 was published under "Diagnosis and Treatment," it was disappointing that the importance of passive immunization or use of antirabies horse serum was mentioned only briefly in passing. The Sixth Technical Report of the World Health Organization emphasizes the importance of antirabies horse serum for potential human exposure to wildlife rabies, particularly involving bats and carnivorous animals. Personal experience pertaining to treatment of children bitten by wild animals and participation in the care of the child who died following a skunk bite2 have convinced me that the use of antirabies horse serum is not well understood or even known to many.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-514
Author(s):  
K. Kapesa ◽  
W. Deepanita Devi ◽  
R.K. Bonysana ◽  
Y. Rajashekar

Entomophagy, the practice of eating insects, has a great deal of importance and history with many countries of the world however, its consumption species of insects and their value differ from community to community. Here, we aimed to study the ethnic traditional practices of entomophagy and its uses in traditional ethno-entomology practiced by the Mao-Naga tribe and the Poumai-Naga tribe from Senapati district of Manipur, Northeast India. We conducted individual semi-structured questionnaire surveys from different villages of both the tribes with ages varying from 22 to 70 years. The respondents comprise village elders, house makers and the youth. The study shows a total of 53 and 51 species of insects being consumed by the Mao-Naga and Poumai-Naga tribes respectively consisting of 9 orders and 18 families. The order Hymenoptera has the maximum number having 20 edible insect species from both the tribes. The order Diptera, Isoptera and Mantodea has the least edible insect of 1 species each from both the tribes. Besides entomophagy, some insect’s species were believed to have ethno-entomological uses.


2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. E5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joao Paulo Almeida ◽  
Carlos Velásquez ◽  
Claire Karekezi ◽  
Miguel Marigil ◽  
Mojgan Hodaie ◽  
...  

OBJECTIVEInternational collaborations between high-income (HICs) and low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) have been developed as an attempt to reduce the inequalities in surgical care around the world. In this paper the authors review different models for international surgical education and describe projects developed by the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto in this field.METHODSThe authors conducted a review of models of international surgical education reported in the literature in the last 15 years. Previous publications on global neurosurgery reported by the Division of Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto were reviewed to exemplify the applications and challenges of international surgical collaborations.RESULTSThe most common models for international surgical education and collaboration include international surgical missions, long-term international partnerships, fellowship training models, and online surgical education. Development of such collaborations involves different challenges, including limited time availability, scarce funding/resources, sociocultural barriers, ethical challenges, and lack of organizational support. Of note, evaluation of outcomes of international surgical projects remains limited, and the development and application of assessment tools, such as the recently proposed Framework for the Assessment of International Surgical Success (FAIRNeSS), is encouraged.CONCLUSIONSActions to reduce inequality in surgical care should be implemented around the world. Different models can be used for bilateral exchange of knowledge and improvement of surgical care delivery in regions where there is poor access to surgical care. Implementation of global neurosurgery initiatives faces multiple limitations that can be ameliorated if systematic changes occur, such as the development of academic positions in global surgery, careful selection of participant centers, governmental and nongovernmental financial support, and routine application of outcome evaluation for international surgical collaborations.


2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 257-262
Author(s):  
Katie Woolaston

Animal lawyers in Australia and around the world often struggle to find room in law to participate in decision-making and give animals a voice. Collaborative governance is a regulatory mechanism that has the potential to overcome this struggle. This ‘new governance’ is of growing importance in environmental and natural resource management, premised on decentralised decision-making and removal of permanent hierarchies. This article will utilise two case studies to outline the benefits of legally integrated collaborative processes for wild animal welfare, including the allocation of a permanent voice in regulation for animal advocates and the ability to promote internalisation of animal-friendly norms.


Animals ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (11) ◽  
pp. 216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gemma Carder ◽  
Tinka Plese ◽  
Fernando Machado ◽  
Suzanne Paterson ◽  
Neil Matthews ◽  
...  

The use of wild animals as photo props is prevalent across the globe and is widely recognised to represent a potential animal welfare concern. However, detailed information regarding the specific impacts of such activity on wild animal behaviour is currently lacking. Herein, we investigated how brown-throated three-toed sloths (Bradypus variegatus) were handled by tourists, and how sloths behaved during wildlife ‘selfies’ taken in Manaus, Brazil and Puerto Alegria and Iquitos in Peru. In total, we observed 17 sloths (during 70 focal observations) that were provided for use in wildlife selfies on 34 different tours. We found that an average number of 5 people held each sloth during each focal observation. For 48.6% of the time the sloths were handled in a way which involved physical manipulation of the sloths’ head and/or limbs and/or being held by the claws. From the eight different types of sloth behaviour observed, we found that the two types performed for the longest average duration of time were surveillance (55.3%) and limb stretching (12.6%). Our findings show that when being handled sloths were frequently held in ways that may compromise their welfare. Although to date the behaviour of sloths while being handled has not been reported in any published literature, in this study we document certain behaviours which may act as indicators of compromised welfare. We suggest that our data provides a potential baseline for future study into the behaviour and welfare of sloths.


Author(s):  
Olha KHAIETSKA

The article describes the current state of development of the world and domestic market of organic products, countries where there are the highest rates of development of certified production, countries with the highest consumption of organic products per capita and countries with the largest areas of organic agricultural land. The organic products market in Ukraine has been analyzed from the beginnings to the present state, indicating all stages of development and the problems that have arisen, as well as the basic laws on organic production, certified organic products, countries and companies operating on the domestic market. The area of land with organic status, the total number of certification bodies, the number of operators in this market in the regions of Ukraine is indicated. In the article a comparative analysis of Ukrainian organic production with world production is conducted, the countries-leaders for the areas occupied by organic production are specified. The list of certified in Ukraine types of organic products, which are consumed both on the domestic market and exported to different countries of the world, is determined. The article deals with the dynamics of the internal market of organic products for 2002-2017 years. The basic principles of organic agriculture, which focus on the preservation of the environment and natural resources, are presented and a mechanism for promoting organic production by agricultural enterprise. The benefits of this production are also described, including: health benefits, environmental, social and economic benefits. The urgent problems of the organic products market are determined, directions of state policy in the field of organic production are proposed, which will promote the development of organic production in Ukraine and the circulation of domestic organic products in the world.


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