Farm animals

Black and white cow in the corral — 📷 Colourbox.com

Since at least the 1960s there has been increasing awareness of the effects of intensive farm animal production on animal welfare. One of the events that opened the eyes of a great many people was the publication of the book 'Animal Machines: The New Factory Farming Industry' by Ruth Harrison in 1964. In the book Harrison describes some of the practices of modern animal production, such as keeping laying hens in small cages, the tethering of gestating sows, and keeping bull-calves one-by-one in small crates.

"Life in the factory farm," she wrote, "revolves entirely around profits, and animals are accessed purely for their ability to convert feed into flesh or 'saleable products'." However, even though many people seem to agree with this, the consumption of meat and other animal products is still on the rise, not only in the West but even more dramatically in countries like India and China. Thus, ethical issues concerning the way farm animals are being treated will not go away.

Below you will find a variety of publications about farm animal ethics and welfare. They are also sorted within the categories listed in the left menu bar.

You can also search among all publications on the site here:

Pork production

2023.09.18

Willingness-to-pay for reduced carbon footprint and other sustainability concerns relating to pork production

In this 2022 questionnaire-based study, we investigated willingness-to-pay for more sustainable pork among consumers in Denmark, Germany, the UK and Shanghai, China.

Vegetarianism

2023.04.26

Various ways towards animal product limiting - practical and social engagements in dietary change

This paper explores how people engage in the practicalities of animal product limiting and how they communicate about the dietary changes they are making in interpersonal interactions.

Pig production

2023.03.23

Multidimensional sustainability assessment of pig production systems at herd level – The case of Denmark

Pig production systems vary in their ability to meet key sustainability goals such as lowered environmental impact, lowered climate impact, reduced land use, economic viability, and improved animal welfare. These goals…

Dairy consumption

2023.01.19

Danish milk consumers are critical of advanced breeding methods in dairy production

Danish milk consumers are critical of advanced breeding methods in dairy production, but only 1 in 5 is unwilling to drink milk from dairy cows bred with semen derived from such methods Lund, T.B., Sandøe, P., Secher,…

2022.03.01

Market driven initiatives can improve broiler welfare – A comparison across five European countries

Market driven initiatives can have a strong impact on improving broiler welfare, building on those standards achieved by animal welfare legislation.

2022.02.21

Positive animal welfare: Bridging the gap or raising inequalities worldwide?

This paper takes a comparative approach to the ways animals are kept in various parts of the world, and highlights the opportunities and potential barriers to promote positive animal welfare in a global context.

2021.10.01

Hornless cattle – is gene editing the best solution?

This paper shows that gene-editing dairy cattle for polledness seems to be a potentially acceptable and feasible solution.

2021.07.01

Danish Dairy Farmers' Acceptance of and Willingness to Use Semen from Bulls Produced by Means of in Vitro Embryo Production and Genomic Selection

This cross-sectional study surveyed Danish dairy farmers' general acceptance of a set of a new advanced set of breeding technologies and their reported likelihood of using semen produced with them.

2021.03.09

For the Sake of Production—And the Animal, and Me. How Students at Danish Agricultural Colleges Perceive AnimalWelfare

The purpose of this study was to examine how perceptions of animal welfare develop among prospective farmers and farm workers in Denmark during their studies at agricultural colleges.

2021.02.01

Moral Convictions and Meat Consumption — A Comparative Study of the Animal Ethics Orientations of Consumers of Pork in Denmark, Germany, and Sweden

The relationship between animal ethics orientations and consumer demand for welfare-enhanced pork in Denmark, Germany, and Sweden is studied.

AnimalEthics