Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: An Animal Rights-Based Analysis of Policy Options

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is an important and controversial animal health policy issue in England, which impacts humans, cattle and badgers. The government policy of badger culling has led to widespread opposition, in part due to the conclusions of a large field trial recommending against culling, and in part because badgers are a cherished wildlife species. Animal rights (AR) theorists argue that sentient nonhumans should be accorded fundamental rights against killing and suffering. In bovine TB policy, however, pro-culling actors claim that badgers must be culled to avoid the slaughter of cattle. The first part of the paper compares AR theories of Regan, Francione, Cochrane, Garner and Donaldson and Kymlicka in the context of wildlife species. The second part of the paper applies these AR theories to bovine TB and badger control. AR theories are applied to badger control policy options of (1) do nothing, (2) badger culling, and (3) badger vaccination. We conclude that AR theories are strongly opposed to badger culling. In general, culling is prohibited due to a badger’s right to life and its rights against suffering. The AR theories support a do-nothing, i.e. non-culling, non-vaccination approach to badger control. In the case of the AR theories of Regan and Francione, this is based on abolitionist positions with respect to farming. For Cochrane, Garner, and Donaldson and Kymlicka, the do-nothing policy option is preferred because badger vaccination causes a degree of suffering which generally is not for the individual’s benefit.     

Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Culling in England: A Utilitarian Analysis of Policy Options

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is an important animal health policy issue in Britain, which impacts farmers, the public, domestic farmed cattle and the wild badger population. The Westminster government’s badger culling policy in England, which began in 2013, has caused considerable controversy. This is in part because the Independent Scientific Group advised against culling, based on the Randomised Badger Culling Trial. Those opposed to badger culling support more stringent cattle-based measures and the vaccination of badgers. This paper argues for ethical analysis of public policy options which impact sentient species. It provides a summary Animal Welfare Impact Assessment of (1) a do-nothing approach, (2) badger culling, and (3) badger vaccination. A utilitarian analysis is then applied to these policy options considering human wellbeing and animal welfare. The analysis compares a badger culling policy that achieves a 19% reduction in bovine TB incidence, a badger vaccination model achieving a 12.5% reduction, and a do-nothing approach. Policy options are assessed over 9 years and a longer timeframe, and uncertainty is considered. The analysis finds that non-culling approaches, particularly badger vaccination, result in greater total utility, compared to badger culling. Badger culling causes 30% reduction in the badger population in England as well as substantial harms due to the culling process. Culling is opposed by public opinion and is associated with considerable risks and uncertainty. In contrast, non-culling approaches, such as cattle-based measures and badger vaccination, are supported by public opinion and are not associated with such risks.     

Bovine Tuberculosis and Badger Control in Britain: Science,Policy and Politics

Bovine tuberculosis (bovine TB) is the most economically important animal health policy issue in Britain. The problem of what to do about badgers has plagued successive governments since a dead badger was discovered with bovine TB in 1971. Successive Labour governments (1997–2010) oversaw the Randomised Badger Culling Trial (RBCT) from 1998 to 2006. Despite the RBCT recommendation against culling, the 2010–2015 Coalition government implemented pilot badger culls. This paper provides an account of the evolution of bovine TB and badger control policy, focusing on the 1997–2010 Labour, the 2010–2015 Coalition and the 2015-present Conservative governments. Interviews with bovine TB policy stakeholders supplement discussion of the development of bovine TB policy. The paper discusses the science and politics of bovine TB policy, in which there are different badger control policies in Westminster, Welsh and Scottish governments. Badger control is a highly polarised issue, and the Coalition and Conservative governments have been heavily criticised for a culling policy opposed by the independent scientific community. Recent governments have defended badger culling on the basis of veterinary advice and experience in countries such as New Zealand. The paper concludes with two key recommendations to inform controversial animal health and welfare policy issues such as bovine TB. First, mandatory Animal Welfare Impact Assessment provides objective data on the impacts of policy options on cows and badgers. Second, robust ethical analysis, conducted by independent experts using established moral frameworks, should be applied to animal health and welfare issues for the benefit of decision makers.     

Impact of Animal Welfare on Costs and Viability of Pig Production in the UK

The European Union welfare standardsfor intensively kept pigs have steadilyincreased over the past few years and areproposed to continue in the future. It isimportant that the cost implications of thesechanges in welfare standards are assessed. Theaim of this study was to determine theprofitability of rearing pigs in a range ofhousing systems with different standards forpig welfare. Models were constructed tocalculate the cost of pig rearing (6–95 kg) in afully-slatted system (fulfilling minimum EUspace requirements, Directive 91630/EEC); apartly-slatted system; a high-welfare,straw-based system (complying with the UK-basedRoyal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toAnimals, Freedom Food standards) and afree-range system. The models were also used toassess the consequences of potential increasesin space allowance, and to estimate the cost ofrearing pigs under organic standards.The cost of rearing pigs ranged from92.0 p/kg carcass weight (cw) and 94.6 p/kgcw forthe partly-slatted and fully-slatted systems,to 98.8 p/kgcw and 99.3 p/kgcw for the FreedomFood and free-range systems respectively. Whenspace allowance was increased by 60% to levelsin a recent proposal to revise pig welfareDirective (91/630/EEC), the rearing costs wereunchanged for the free-range system but rose by4.6 p/kgcw for the fully-slatted system. Rearingcosts under organic standards were 31% higherthan in the free-range system. These resultssuggest that improved pig welfare can beachieved with a modest increase in costAt present, price premiums received for meatproduced under high welfare systems in the UKoffset the higher costs of production in thesesystems. To ensure profitability in the longterm, it is important that these premiums aremaintained.     

Longevity as an Animal Welfare Issue Applied to the Case of Foot Disorders in Dairy Cattle

In current dairy farming it is possible to run a profitable farm without having to adapt the system to the needs of dairy cows. In such systems the interests of the farmer and animals often diverge. Consequently, specific animal welfare problems occur. Foot disorders in dairy cattle are an illustrative example resulting from the specific methods of housing and management in current dairy farming. Foot disorders and the resulting lameness are considered the most important welfare problem in dairy farming. However, these foot disorders not only typify welfare problems related to certain housing systems, but they also lead to the premature culling of cows. The assessment of the impact of foot disorders on the welfare of dairy cows raised the question of whether premature culling affects animal welfare since it affects the longevity of a cow. We argue that this aspect of longevity is morally relevant as an animal welfare issue. In this paper we aim to explore whether longevity is both (a) a morally relevant aspect in the discussion on killing animals and (b) a constitutive element of animal welfare. In other words, we aim to explore whether longevity is an independent moral argument in an animal welfare discussion. We claim that longevity is not merely important as an indicator of animal welfare, but is also a constitutive element of animal welfare. We argue that we need a more integrated approach to animal welfare and that an assessment that includes the aspect of time is necessary. This view involves a shift from views on animal welfare in terms of functioning or feeling well to a view on animal welfare that includes the aspect of natural living in which species-specific development is important. To show the impact of these points of view, we look at the practical implications for choices concerning the management of foot disorders in dairy cattle.     

生态适宜度评价在开发区环评和环境规划中的应用——以江苏常熟东南开发区为例

本文以江苏省常熟东南开发区为研究对象，在开发区的环境影响评价和环境保护规划中引入土地利用生态适宜度评价的方法，建立开发区生态适宜度评价指标体系，并借助GIS技术将数值计算和图形叠置有机结合，实现了对经济开发区土地利用进行生态适宜度评价的定量化研究方法，为经济开发区的合理规划提供决策依据。     

环境影响评价在HSE管理体系中的应用

HSE(健康、安全、环境)管理体系已发展成为国际石油石化行业通用的管理体系,中国石油逐步推行HSE管理体系,不断探索和实践。文章从环境影响评价与石油企业HSE管理体系的相互关联入手,分析将环境影响评价应用于HSE管理体系建设的可行性,认为企业的环境管理应与环境影响评价工作充分结合,以提高企业管理的效率和效益,推动企业长远发展。     

环境影响评价制度改革应着力回归环评本质

环评倍受关注,主要因为其作为环保部门的最大权力,不仅没有起到预防污染发生的作用,反而成了一些不正当利益输送的通道。本文从回顾环评在中国的发展历程和剖析环保部门、建设单位或规划编制机关、环评机构在环评中的相互关系入手,试图回答“作为环保部门最大权力为什么预防不住环境污染”的问题。研究认为,应以促进环评回归其本质作为环评制度改革的目标,按“环评脱钩→环评审批→环境违法严惩→维护公众环境权益”优先顺序,全面推进环评制度改革;环评脱钩是环评制度改革的切入点或起点;环评制度改革须抓住“如何防止环评及干预环评的任性权力”这一关键点,即环评制度改革的“牛鼻子”应是环评审批;以信息公开、社会监督确保事中有效监督,确保公众环境权益、强化污染者的损害担责,倒逼环评回归其本质;以法治和社会监督防止环评及干预环评的权力任性。     

大气环境影响评价中典型气象日的确定及其应用

对某地区多年气象资料进行统计和分析,给出大气环境影响评价中典型气象日的确定方法。结合高架点源影响浓度的实例计算,可以方便地得到典型气象日条件下大气污染物的日平均浓度分布情况,能够更为真实地反映该地区的实际气象条件对大气污染物分布浓度的影响情况。     

Flourishing Dogs: The Case for an Individualized Conception of Welfare and Its Implications

Martha Nussbaum argues that animals (including ourselves) are entitled to a flourishing life according to the norm for their species. Nussbaum furthermore suggests that in the case of dogs, breed norms as well as species norms are relevant. Her theses capture both common intuitions among laypeople according to which there is something wrong with the breeding of “unnatural” animals, or animals that are too different from their wild ancestors, and the dog enthusiast’s belief that dogs departing from the norms for their breed are tragic. I argue that the high diversity of the dog species and the ultimate arbitrariness of breed norms support the thesis that a conception of welfare must be tied to what the individual requires in order to flourish. In the second part of the paper, I discuss the implications that an individualized (but sufficiently sophisticated) welfare conception has for the breeding of dogs for conformation shows, for the pet market and for the performance of various tasks for which we need working dogs.     

Development of a Decision Support System for Assessing Farm Animal Welfare in Relation to Husbandry Systems: Strategy and Prototype

Due to increasing empiricalinformation on farm animal welfare since the1960s, the prospects for sound decisionmakingconcerning welfare have improved. This paperdescribes a strategy to develop adecision-making aid, a decision support system,for assessment of farm-animal welfare based onavailable scientific knowledge. Such a decisionsupport system allows many factors to be takeninto account. It is to be developed accordingto the Evolutionary Prototyping Method, inwhich an initial prototype is improved inreiterative updating cycles. This initialprototype has been constructed. It useshierarchical representations to analysescientific statements and statements describingthe housing system. Welfare is assessed fromwhat is known about the biological needs of theanimals, using a welfare model in the form of atree that contains these needs as welfarecomponents. Each state of need is assessedusing welfare relevant attributes of thehousing system and weighting factors.Attributes are measurable properties of thehousing system. Weighting factors are assignedaccording to heuristic rules based on theprinciple of weighting all components(attributes and needs) equally, unless thereare strong reasons to do otherwise. Preliminarytests of the prototype indicate that it may bepossible to perform assessment of farm-animalwelfare in an explicit way and based onempirical findings. The procedure needs to berefined, but its prospects are promising.     

安徽野生动物资源及其开发利用与保护

安徽省自然条件优越,野生动物资源丰富,但在资源的开发利用上存在不少问题。只有在科学研究的基础上,把资源的开发利用与保护有机地结合起来,才能实现野生动物资源的永续利用。     

可持续发展的突变评判法

首次将系统新三论之一的突变理论应用于可持续发展评价的研究中。介绍了突变评判法的基本原理和使用步骤，并运用该方法对天津市的可持续发展状态进行了评价。     

VMS在旅游公路景观影响评价中的应用

应用美国林务局的“风景资源管理系统”（VMS）对贾登峪-禾木乡旅游公路进行了景观影响评价。结果表明,从处于低位的观察点来看,山体的不同垂直位置承受的工程活动强度不同。山体的上半部能承受一定强度的工程活动,受公路建设的影响轻微;但山体的中下部能承受的工程活动有限,受公路建设的影响较大。具体分析表明,公路设计的老路方案和四级路方案对泰加林山体的景观影响程度基本相同。     

可靠性试验评价技术发展及其应用

本文介绍了可靠性试验评价的概况和技术发展,论述了可靠性仿真试验、可靠性强化试验、可靠性加速试验、系统可靠性试验、加速退化试验和可靠性综合评价的概念、方法、基本流程及其主要应用。     

AERMOD模型在石油化工环境影响评价中的应用

以某炼油厂新建聚丙烯酰胺装置为研究对象,介绍了AERMOD模型的基本原理、操作过程和所需基本资料,并利用该模型对周围大气环境造成的影响进行了逐日逐时的预测。结果表明:预测结果与监测值具有很好的一致性,说明该模型可成功应用于国内石油化工行业区域环境影响预测。     

环境影响评价制度的特点及在建设项目中的作用

环境影响评价的理论、方法体系和管理机制在逐渐完善并得以发展。文章简要阐述了建设项目环境影响评价现有评价基础,环境影响评价制度特点及其在建设项目中的作用,并提出了关于加强环境影响评价的几点建议。     

成都施用磷肥中镭（^226Ra）含量调查及对农田环境影响评价

本文报道了成都磷肥及其原料矿石中外照射剂量水平；用国家标准规定的方法测定了磷肥及其矿石中＾２２６Ｒａ含量；调查了同一生产厂家不同批号磷肥中＾２２６Ｒａ含量变化情况；估算出施用磷肥后可能带来的放射性环境污染，并对磷肥中＾２２６Ｒａ可能导致的农田环境影响作了简要评价? ?     

物元可拓法的改进及在城市环境可持续发展综合评价中的应用

根据函数单调性特点及模糊识别中最大贴近度原则,分别从距离函数和关联函数两方面对物元可拓法在城市环境可持续发展综合评价过程中存在的不足进行了改进。距离函数改进后,能够真实地反应变量与区间的关系;关联函数改为贴近度函数后,评价结果中不再出现负值,易于级别的判定。采用改进后的物元可拓法建立了城市环境可持续发展综合评价的多级物元模型,对城市环境可持续发展现状进行了综合评价,结果表明该方法更快捷,评价结果能更客观地反映城市环境可持续发展现状。