Independent Researcher, Göttingen, Germany.
Animal. 2023 Aug;17 Suppl 4:100880. doi: 10.1016/j.animal.2023.100880.
The terms "animal welfare" and "sustainability" have become major keywords in agricultural politics due to increased public concern about our treatment of animals (particularly in the context of food production) and our treatment of the environment, for example regarding our use of natural resources in farming. Agricultural agendas must therefore address both aspects (among others). What is striking is a problematic tendency within the literature of agricultural science and politics to closely link these issues by declaring animal welfare a part of the concept of sustainability. This joining of both concepts is usually defended on one hand by referring to empirical reciprocal influences between the promotion of animal welfare and the development of more sustainable husbandry systems. On the other hand, the linking of both concepts is promoted by its advocates as a promising strategy to protect current animal welfare standards from being rolled back in favour of economic or ecologic human interests. I will argue that the notions of animal welfare and sustainability need to be understood as independent and at times even competing issues. I will closely analyse both notions and illustrate that they are based on different value assumptions and that conceptually joining them means to blur their differences. Such mixing makes it harder to understand the ethical implications entailed in animal welfare and sustainability which will lead to misguided agricultural political decision-making.
由于公众对动物（特别是在食品生产方面）的待遇和对环境的处理（例如在农业中对自然资源的使用）日益关注，“动物福利”和“可持续性”这两个术语已成为农业政策的主要关键词。因此，农业议程必须解决这两个方面（以及其他方面）。引人注目的是，农业科学和政治文献中存在一个有问题的倾向，即将这些问题紧密联系起来，宣称动物福利是可持续性概念的一部分。这两个概念的结合通常一方面通过援引促进动物福利和发展更可持续的畜牧业系统之间的实证相互影响来辩护。另一方面，其倡导者则将这两个概念的结合作为保护当前动物福利标准不被削弱以有利于经济或生态人类利益的有希望的策略加以推动。我将论证动物福利和可持续性的概念需要被理解为独立的，有时甚至是相互竞争的问题。我将仔细分析这两个概念，并说明它们基于不同的价值假设，将它们概念上结合起来意味着模糊它们之间的差异。这种混合使得更难理解动物福利和可持续性所涉及的伦理含义，这将导致农业政策决策的失误。
