Animal Welfare

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.

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.