This future may render the welfare vs. rights debate obsolete. If we can produce animal proteins without animals, the welfarist concedes that factory farms vanish, and the rights advocate celebrates that sentient beings are no longer property. The interim challenge—the next 20 years—is how we treat the billions of animals still in the system.
The gold standard for welfare is often the "Five Freedoms," developed in the UK in the 1960s: This future may render the welfare vs
The rights movement’s great hope is "legal personhood." Non-human personhood has been granted to corporations, ships, and rivers. Why not a chimpanzee? In 2022, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) argued before the New York Court of Appeals for habeas corpus (freedom from unlawful detention) for an elephant named Happy. They lost. But the fact that the case reached the highest court is a bellwether. The interim challenge—the next 20 years—is how we
The future of animal ethics will likely transcend the welfare vs. rights debate entirely, forced by technology and climate change. In 2022, the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) argued
The movement for animal welfare isn't just about the animals; it’s about humans, too. The "One Health" concept recognizes that human health, animal health, and the environment are inextricably linked.
Factory farming is a leading driver of deforestation, water use, and methane emissions. Suddenly, animal welfare is not just an ethical issue; it is a survival issue. The welfarist argues for regenerative, low-stock farming. The rights advocate argues that animal agriculture is obsolete.