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The science of animal welfare and its relevance to whales

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2023

DM Broom
DM Broom*
Affiliation:
Centre for Animal Welfare and Anthrozoology, Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK
*
Email: dmb16@cam.ac.uk
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Extract

The welfare of animals is a major factor affecting the acceptability of human activities, and hence their sustainability, and whales are the subject of much concern because they are considered to be sentient animals. The scientific study of animal welfare has developed rapidly and now allows evaluation of the effects on whale welfare of disturbance by boats, harpoon entry, pulling whales to a boat, capture procedures, the point of unconsciousness and consequences for animals that escape. Useful data are now being collected on some aspects but recent evidence shows that, on average, during the capture and killing of whales, there is a high magnitude of poor welfare and the procedure is not humane.

Keywords

animal welfarehumanepainsustainabilitywhalewhaling
Type
Research Article
Information
Animal Welfare , Volume 22 , Issue 1: Including selected abstracts from the WSPA/Defra Whale Welfare and Ethics Workshop, March 2011 , February 2013 , pp. 123 - 126
Copyright
© 2013 Universities Federation for Animal Welfare

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