Degrees and Courses

 

APBI 315: Animal Welfare and The Ethics of Animal Use: An interdisciplinary course

Overview || Outline || Links || Readings

 

OVERVIEW


This multi-disciplinary course helps students to develop an intellectual framework for understanding and discussing animal welfare concerns and other ethical issues surrounding the use of animals in agriculture, science, and society.

The course covers:

  1. scientific research that attempts to understand and improve animal welfare (recognizing pain and distress, causes of abnormal behaviour, understanding animals' environmental preferences, etc.)
  2. philosophical positions on animal use (rights-based views, utilitarian views, etc.) and the history of ethical debate over the proper relationship between humans and other species
  3. social, economic, and legal developments related to animal welfare and animal ethics
  4. practical issues of animal welfare and animal ethics in agriculture, wildlife management, animal research, and companion animal use

As additional educational goals, students will:

  1. develop skills in drawing upon different disciplines in understanding and discussing animal welfare and animal ethics issues
  2. learn to recognize the many factors (values, knowledge, technology, regulation and economics) that enter into decisions about animal use
  3. learn to combine empirical knowledge and philosophical reflection
  4. develop skills in critical thinking and conflict resolution
  5. develop communication skills by presenting material to the class and by discussing issues with others whose views are different from their own

Details:

  1. Textbook: Fraser, D. 2008. Understanding Animal Welfare: The Science in its Cultural Context. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford.
  2. The class meets for two 1.5-hour sessions per week in January-April.
  3. Evaluation emphasizes comprehension of the concepts, critical thinking, and independent research as evidenced by in-class discussion, a term paper, and an oral or electronic presentation to the class.
  4. The course is open to upper-level undergraduates (pre-requisite: minimum of third year standing in any faculty) and graduate students in agriculture, science, pre-veterinary medicine, the social sciences, and the humanities.

Offered by:

Drs. David Fraser and Dan Weary
NSERC/Industrial Research Chairs in Animal Welfare
Faculty of Land and Food Systems


Registration:

Register in APBI 315 (3) Animal Welfare and the Ethics of Animal Use. Open to students of all faculties.
Catalogue #80490
Prerequisite: Minimum of third year standing in any Faculty.

For further information contact Dan Weary or David Fraser.

Official 2009-2010 UBC student evaluation for this course


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COURSE OUTLINE

 

Introduction

  1. Historical development of scientific understanding of animals and of ethical concerns about animal use.
  2. Recognizing empirical and ethical aspects of the debate.
  3. Recognizing societal factors that enter into animal use decisions (values, knowledge, regulation, technology, and economics)
  4. Overview of the course and expectations.

These classes use current issues to help students understand the combination of empirical knowledge and ethical concern that underlies many contentious animal use issues, and the social context (cultural, legal, economic) in which these issues must be addressed.

Issues that have been used as case studies include:

  1. the dispersal of a colony of primates at the end of a biomedical testing program in Ottawa
  2. the use of farrowing crates to restrain sows during parturition
  3. the revival of whaling by the Makah nation in the western United States.

Scientific Approaches to Animal Welfare

  1. How public concern about animal welfare led to the emergence of animal welfare science
  2. Scientific approaches - Abnormal behaviour
  3. Scientific approaches - Detecting pain and other affective states
  4. Scientific approaches - Stress physiology
  5. Scientific approaches - Testing animals' preferences and motivations
  6. Scientific approaches - Basic health and biological functioning
  7. Scientific approaches - Effects of human-animal interaction

Ethical Theories Applied to Animal Issues

  1. Animal liberation: a utilitarian approach
  2. Animal rights: a deontological approach
  3. Respecting the "nature" of animals
  4. A relation-based ethic for animals

Issues Arising in Animal Welfare and the Ethics of Animal Use


Many specific aspects of animal production, animal management, and animals in research are covered by student presentations, given in class or as web pages.

Student presentations have covered:

  1. Greyhound racing: animal welfare issues and concerns
  2. The Pregnant Mare Urine industry
  3. Traditional foxhunting in Britain
  4. Animal welfare issues in the British Columbia salmon aquaculture industry
  5. Design of zoos as a reflection of animal welfare concerns
  6. Ethical and animal welfare concerns surrounding traditional Spanish bull-fighting
  7. Welfare issues of metabolism crates for digestion studies in dairy cows
  8. Effects of eco-tourism on Gorilla gorilla beringei
  9. The disparity in the treatment and protection of laboratory, pet and pest rodents
  10. Animal welfare issues and anti-vivisectionism in medical research
  11. The welfare of cattle in slaughter plants
  12. Animal welfare aspects of poultry transportation
  13. Animal welfare dimensions of commercial fishing
  14. Welfare of transgenic animals
  15. An evaluation of hot-iron branding and some alternatives
  16. Cold stress in beef cattle and the need for housing
  17. Welfare of animals in the circus industry
  18. A comparison of animal welfare in Hong Kong and Canada
  19. Cosmetic surgery on animals: tail amputation and feline onchyectomy
  20. Sow housing systems and welfare issues

Additional Exposure to Animal Welfare and Animal Ethics Issues


Additional exposure will be achieved by occasional field trips and visiting lectures scheduled according to convenience and student interest.

Field trips have included:

  1. visit to the SPCA animal shelter with veterinarian Dr. James Lawson
  2. visit to the University Animal Care Centre with UBC veterinarians
  3. visit to a commercial chicken farm with Dr. Stu Ritchie, owner and veterinarian

Marking System


Term Paper                                                               35

Oral or Electronic Presentation                                 10

Assignments

  1. Current event                                             5
  2. Issue analysis                                            10
  3. Integrating the scientific readings              15
  4. Integrating the ethics readings                  10

Attendance/participation                                           15

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LINKS TO REFERENCES USED IN ASSIGNMENTS

  1. Codes of Practice for the care and handling of farm animals
  2. Criminal Code of Canada (Treatment of animals is in Sections 444-447)
  3. Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (BC)
  4. Veterinarians Act SBC 2010, c 15 (especially section 46)

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For further information contact Dan Weary or David Fraser.

Official 2009-2010 UBC student evaluation for this course


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