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Farm animal welfare: a regulatory history

Explore the regulatory history of farm animal welfare in Britain, from early legislation to the modern era of welfare promotion. Uncover the origins, key legislative moments, and changes in perception towards animal welfare. Analyze the role of government, shifts in farming practices, and the impact of intensification on animal well-being.

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Farm animal welfare: a regulatory history

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  1. Farm animal welfare: a regulatory history Dr Abigail Woods Centre for the History of Science, Technology and Medicine Imperial College London

  2. The governance of FAW • EU • Directives • Conventions of the council of europe • British government • 2006 Animal welfare act • Voluntary codes of practice • FAWC, Animal Health • Private • farm assurance schemes.

  3. The British government’s role Key questions: • How / why / when did it become involved in regulating farm animal welfare? • What did it think welfare was?

  4. Origin stories:The ancient contract (Rollin)

  5. Origin stories:The rise of welfare (Webster) • 1965 Brambell committee • 1968 Agriculture Act • Welfare standards • FAWAC • Welfare codes

  6. Origin stories • See welfare as a fundamentally new concept, that arose in the 1960s as a result of intensive farming practices, and required new government interventions. • But all disciplines have their (often historically unsupported) founding myths –– is there any truth in this one?

  7. A plea for historical continuity: • The 1968 act and the subsequent welfare codes simply extended to farms the type of measures laid down in earlier legislation for protection of animals in transit. • Major change did not take place until c1980 (at the earliest).

  8. i) The legislative picture • By 1960, farm animals protected by a patchwork of legislation: • In public spaces (1822, 1835 1849, 1911) • In transit (1869, 1894, 1927, 1950 Acts) • At slaughterhouses (1954, 1958)

  9. In public spaces: • Included in broader legislation (1911) to prevent animal cruelty and avoidable suffering • Responsibility of the Home Office & Local Authorities.

  10. In transit: • Provoked by growth in transport, associated disease spread and humanitarian concerns • Responsibility of state vets & Local authorities

  11. Drive to increase productivity and critique of practices date from at least the 19thC eg urban dairies ii) Intensification & the animal body

  12. Eg inter-war ‘progressive’ dairying

  13. ii) Intensification & the animal body Q: • So why did state-led welfare interventions not happen earlier? A: • Such practices were seen as ‘bad farming’ • State intervention not considered: nature would restore order, eg by disease.

  14. ii) Intensification & the animal body Post-WWII • New definitions of good and bad farming • Changing nature of intensification • Larger scale; indoor • Farm becomes a factory (or a cattle truck?)

  15. P Brassley, ‘Output and technical change in 20th century British Agriculture’, Ag Hist Rev 48 (2000), p62

  16. ii) Intensification & the animal body • Post-WWII: new critique • No longer expect redress from nature • Farmers are harming nature with aid of science (Carson, Silent Spring, 1962)

  17. ii) Intensification & the animal body 1964: Harrison’s Animal Machines • Not the first critique of factory farming; but the first to prompt MAFF action • unemotional tone • attacked MAFF defences. • huge publicity • political pressure. • Officials look to transit regulations for inspiration

  18. iii) The concept of welfare • Pre-1960s, key terms are animal protection, cruelty, suffering and humanity • Welfare used mainly in relation to ‘welfare societies’ • Use of welfare increases early 60s. • Enters mainstream following 1964/5 Brambell committee inquiry ‘into the welfare of animals’

  19. iii) The concept of welfare What did it mean? • For Brambell committee: • physical and mental wellbeing • For MAFF officials, farmers and many vets: • the converse of suffering • a new name for animal protection

  20. iii) The concept of welfare • Doesn’t the new legislation / codes implement a new concept of welfare? • Closely resemble transit regulations & drawn up by the same people (vets). • MAFF’s legal understanding is that welfare = ‘absence of unnecessary pain or distress’: FAWAC told to work within this definition.

  21. From animal protection to animal wellbeing • Driven by Harrison • institutionalised by FAWC (1979) • Aided by scientific research (Dawkins) • Re-iterated by 1980-1 agriculture select committee

  22. Conclude • The early history of FAW regulation in Britain amounted to a re-branding exercise: From the protection of animals in transit….to the promotion of animal welfare.

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