Animals in International Development, Ethics, Dilemmas and Possibilities

Abstract

This chapter explores the role and perceptions of animals in international development efforts and the possible contradictions between differing priorities of agencies involved in international charitable efforts. Although there is a wide range of purposes for a charitable organization, as shown in the (England and Wales) Charities Act 2011 (c.25) and having one purpose does not preclude a second, organizations concerned with animal welfare are quite distinct from those working for poverty alleviation in the developing world (and indeed the developed world). A fun and novel gift of a donkey may equally be perceived as a cruel, environmentally unsustainable and misguided development effort, a valuable asset, or a burden to a household struggling to feed existing mouths. Exacerbating this situation is the fact that much of the debate around animals in a developing context is heavily polarized between livestock welfare, and animal rights, with a very limited middle ground.

This chapter analyzes the underlying tensions between human development, animal welfare, and poverty alleviation, exploring cultural tensions, philosophical tensions and where areas of common ground may be found, with specific reference to development programming. The chapter is framed by contemporary debate on ethics and international development. International development interventions are driven by human welfare concerns, within the broader context of an increasingly globalized world economy. There is a danger in not engaging with ethical considerations with regard to animals and development, as there are potentially complex, interrelated and unintended outcomes. Such outcomes include rising inequality for those who depend on livestock for livelihoods in a business-as-usual scenario of increasing production and intensification; a focus on animal welfare in isolation, with potential accusations of forcing limitations on animal production on low income communities and countries;, and, finally, a moral debate surrounding the issue of whether it is reasonable to require animal welfare standards of people who live in poverty, as a pathway out of poverty. Discourse and practice needs to engage with how to link debate on international development with ethics of livestock production, beyond animal welfare, with global sustainability as core.