SEAT
Why Protect Animals?
Animals are intelligent beings, who showcase a wide range of emotions and most importantly, experience at least some form of pain
"It is beyond reasonable doubt that physical suffering can be experienced in animals"
Detecting and assessing the pain of animals is crucial to improving their welfare in a variety of contexts. Still, there are no clear standards to judge whether pain in animals is likely to occur, that could also drive the refinement of numerous procedures and the minimization of animal pain.
The difficulty in gathering evidence for painful experiences, lies in our inability to recognize negative mental states in other species and their incapacity to communicate such pain-like states to us. Thus, when humans experience pain, they can express their discomfort through language, facial expressions, body movements, and they even have the ability to seek to alleviate that pain.
While animals do not express physical distress though language, observation of their behavior provides a reasonable indication as to the extent of their pain. In other words, the inability to communicate verbally does not negate the possibility that a non-human animal is indeed experiencing pain.
All animals possess sensory systems that alert them to potential damage or harm at least similar to those of humans. As so, different animals have evolved their possible "pain systems" to meet the demands of their specific environments.
Still, most non-human animals do in fact showcase analogous physiological and behavioral reactions to pain, as those in humans. They share similar pain detection mechanisms to ours, they have similar areas of the brain involved in processing pain and even show similar pain behaviors.
They might consume less food, adopt and exhibit abnormal behavior, suppress their social behavior, emit distress calls, and even experience respiratory and cardiovascular changes, as well as inflammation and release of stress hormones.
We should accept that complete certainty for the experience of pain in any animal species has not been established. Nevertheless, the vast evidence to support that most animals experience pain-like states, should from an ethical and often legal perspective ensure the welfare of animals.
We need animals as much as they need us
Food
Feeding the world in a sustainable way is one of the most pressing challenges in the coming decades.
Still, meat, dairy and other animal-products are a big part of our diet.
Find out more about meat and dairy production and consumption around the world.
Fiber
Animal fibers are the second most widely used natural fibers after vegetable or plant fibers.
Ethical production and usage of animal fibers are a sustainable alternative to plastic fibers.
Plastic textiles production is one of the biggest plastic waste contributors around the world, having detrimental impacts on our ecosystem.
Companionship
Over the years, animals have evolved into being an integral part of families all over the world.
Today more than half people of people globally have at least one pet.
Adding to this, service and emotional support animals are widely trained to perform tasks for the benefit of individuals with special needs.
Sadly, interpersonal family violence more than often spills over into violence against loving companion animals.
We have the power to make an honest change
Together we can create a world where animal suffering is never acceptable.
Campaigning can persuade governments, international bodies, companies, communities and individuals to get serious about animal protection.
People together with animals are key to a sustainable future
A dynamic balance and co-existence between plants, animals and the surrounding environments comprise an ecosystem. There is an ecological balance between all animals insects and microorganisms. All have important roles without disturbing each other and without taking the ecological balance off.
Our actions matter and do make a difference in shaping the future of life on earth.