Ethical Treatment of Invasive and Native Fauna in Australia: Perspectives through the One Welfare Lens

Title
Ethical Treatment of Invasive and Native Fauna in Australia: Perspectives through the One Welfare Lens
Publication Date
2022-06
Author(s)
Kennedy, Brooke P A
Boyle, Nick
Fleming, Peter J S
Harvey, Andrea M
Jones, Bidda
Ramp, Daniel
Dixon, Roselyn
McGreevy, Paul D
( author )
OrcID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7220-8378
Email: pmcgree2@une.edu.au
UNE Id une-id:pmcgree2
Type of document
Journal Article
Language
en
Entity Type
Publication
Publisher
MDPI AG
Place of publication
Switzerland
DOI
10.3390/ani12111405
UNE publication id
une:1959.11/61089
Abstract

The One Welfare concept is proposed to guide humans in the ethical treatment of nonhuman animals, each other and the environment. OneWelfare was conceptualized for veterinarians but could be a foundational concept through which to promote the ethical treatment of animals that are outside of direct human care and responsibility. However, wild-living animals raise additional ethical conundrums because of their multifarious values and roles, and relationships that humans have with them. At an open facilitated forum, the 2018 Robert Dixon Memorial Animal Welfare Symposium, a panel of five experts from different fields shared their perspectives on "loving and hating animals in the wild" and responded to unscripted questions from the audience. The Symposium's objectives were to elucidate views on the ethical treatment of the native and invasive animals of Australia and to identify some of the resultant dilemmas facing conservationists, educators, veterinarians and society. Here, we document the presented views and case studies and synthesize common themes in a One Welfare framework. Additionally, we identified points of contention that can guide further discourse. With this guide in place, the identification and discussion of those disparate views was a first step toward practical resolutions on how to manage wild-living Australian fauna ethically. We concluded that there was great utility in the One Welfare approach for any discourse about wild animal welfare. It requires attention to each element of the triple bottom line and ensures that advocacy for one party does not vanquish the voices from other sectors. We argue that, by facilitating a focus on the ecology in the context of wild animal issues, OneWelfare is more useful in this context than the veterinary context for which it was originally developed.

Link
Citation
Animals, 12(11), p. 1-18
ISSN
2076-2615
Pubmed ID
35681870
Start page
1
End page
18
Rights
Attribution 4.0 International

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