Page 13 - Demo

www.poultrynews.com.au National Poultry Newspaper, January 2025 %u2013 Page 13KILLING animals has been a ubiquitous human behaviour throughout history, yet it is becoming increasingly controversial and criticised in some parts of contemporary human society. Over a three part series, researchers from around the globe review 10 primary reasons why humans kill animals, discuss the necessity or not of these forms of killing and describe the global ecological context for human killing of animals. The article can be viewed in its entirety at sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969723039062Humans historically and currently kill animals either directly or indirectly for the following reasons: %u2022 Wild harvest or food acquisition%u2022 Human health and safety%u2022 Agriculture and aquaculture%u2022 Urbanisation and industrialisation%u2022 Invasive, overabundant or nuisance wildlife control%u2022 Threatened species conservation%u2022 Recreation, sport or entertainment%u2022 Mercy or compassion%u2022 Cultural and religious practice%u2022 Research, education and testing.While the necessity of some forms of animal killing is debatable and further depends on individual values, the authors emphasise that several of these forms of animal killing are a necessary component of our inescapable involvement in a single functioning finite global food web.They conclude that humans and all other animals cannot live in a way that does not require animal killing either directly or indirectly, however humans can modify some of these killing behaviours in ways that improve the welfare of animals while they are alive or to reduce animal suffering whenever they must be killed.Encouraged is a constructive dialogue that accepts and permits human participation in one enormous global food web dependent on animal killing and focuses on animal welfare and environmental sustainability. Doing so will improve the lives of both wild and domestic animals to a greater extent than efforts to avoid, prohibit or vilify human animalkilling behaviour.IntroductionThe killing of animals by humans has been a common practice throughout history and this pattern continues in the present age. Countless animals are killed daily, either for direct consumption or indirectly through competition for resources, and the nutrients released through this process ultimately find their way back into the environment. Ecology textbooks refer to this as the %u2018food chain%u2019 or %u2018food web%u2019. Animal killing by humans and animals is ecologically ubiquitous, yet some sectors of contemporary human society condemn, criticise or oppose animal killing by humans, attempting to prevent or minimise human involvement in the global food web. Some more extreme adherents have even suggested that non-human predators might also be prevented from killing their prey.Criticism of animal killing comes in many forms. Modern hunter-gatherers and subsistence farmers are criticised for killing wild animals to feed themselves or to protect what little crops they can produce.Livestock producers are criticised for raising and then killing domestic livestock and the wild predators and competitors of their livestock.Crop producers face the same criticism when they kill animals during tilling, during harvest or when they protect their crops from being eaten by other animals.Conservationists are criticised for killing exotic, invasive or overabundant animals to protect native biodiversity.Hunters are criticised for killing animals for food, sport or pleasure.Cultures and religions are criticised for killing animals and disregarding animal suffering during various rituals.Researchers, scientists and educators are also criticised for performing dissections or experimenting on and killing animals in laboratories or for field-testing ecological hypotheses related to animal killing.This widespread criticism of killing animals occurs at all scales.It is directed towards global food industries such as the beef, dairy, pork, poultry and egg industries.As well as government agencies at all levels, including for example the US Department of Agriculture or Australian state and local governments.And is even targeted towards specific individuals including anglers, recreational hunters, wildlife scientists and meat eaters.Support for this criticism arises from a variety of perspectives. As examples, some have argued that animal killing by humans is immoral, unethical, irreligious, unjust, unacceptable or just plain wrong.Others claim that animal killing ignores %u2018animal personhood%u2019 and that animals should have rights equal to humans %u2013 that animal abuse, violence or murder is unacceptable and criminal %u2013 and many people have held and still hold this belief.Many also view the act of animal killing as cruel or harmful, regardless of how it is accomplished or how instantaneous or painless it might actually be, and hence advocate for only non-lethal practices or complete cessation of animal killing, ostensibly to stop animal suffering.Why humans kill animals - Part 1Associate Professor Benjamin Allen, research coauthor and wildlife management and research team leader at the Institute for Life Sciences and the Environment at the University of Southern Queensland.Several forms of animal killing are a necessary component of our inescapable involvement in a single functioning finite global food web.* continued P15