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Animal Welfare

Animal rights and animal welfare cover a huge spectrum of ideas and beliefs.

The animal rights viewpoint is basically that humans do not have the right to use animals for their own gain at all—in the laboratory, on the farm, in entertainment or in the wild. The animal welfare viewpoint advocates for limiting or preventing cruel treatment of animals. According to the animal welfare perspective, human use of animals is acceptable if animal suffering is preventable. In practice however it is not always that simple to make this distinction between animal rights and animal welfare positions. In many cases, organizations or individuals who describe themselves as animal rights advocates may support animal welfare efforts as an intermediate step on the path to a true animal rights solution. While the perspectives differ, both involve a concern for the suffering of others.

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Some of the information and action ideas on our site are from the animal welfare perspective and others are closer to animal rights. Read about the issues and figure out how you personally feel on this topic.

Animal Cruelty

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Cruel treatment comes in many forms - learn about them and see what you can do.

Animal Homelessness

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There are 4-6 million homeless pets in the U.S. in need of a good home. Learn more about the cause…

Animal Testing

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An estimated 2,000,000 animals are used in research in the U.S. each year.

Endangered Species

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Since 1600, more than 700 species of plants and animals have gone extinct.

Factory Farms

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These operations treat animals with hormones and antibiotics to prevent disease.

Puppy Mills

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Behind the cute pet store showroom is an entire industry of inhumane animal breeding.



Related Animal Welfare news

The Cove takes on whale sushi

As "The Cove" took home the Oscar for Best Documentary Sunday night, awareness is building on the issue of dolphin drive hunting in Japan. The directors made quite a statement on stage by unraveling a large “Text Dolphin to 44144” poster during their acceptance to increase support for their cause.

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Sea World tragedy re-sparks debate

The awful death of a SeaWorld trainer at the hands of a killer whale on Wednesday has many wildlife conservationists saying, “I told you so!”

Since the first orca was captured decades ago, there’s been an ongoing debate about whether the majestic creatures should be kept in captivity.

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