What is the difference in practice between animal welfare and animal rights, and how does this difference matter for reducing animal suffering in South Africa?

Persons advocating for better treatment of animals usually take one of two principal philosophical positions. Welfarists argue that the exploitation of animals is morally acceptable if this is done with a minimum of unnecessary suffering. Animal rights theory varies widely, but most animal rights positions hold that animals exist for their own reasons, and we should seek to eliminate all forms of exploitation whatsoever, since recognising even a few fundamental rights for animals is inconsistent with their use in food, medicine, entertainment and other contexts. The academic debate about which of these two positions is correct has huge practical implications for animals.

There have arguably been few times in history when the conditions of life and death were worse for animals than is the case currently, and the average lived experience for a sentient vertebrate mammal is one of suffering and a violent premature death.

This webinar will both explore these themes at an academic level, and review the current policy and legal framework that determines how they play out in practice for animals in South Africa.

Visit the webinar page.