From the backyard, through the farm, to the laboratory - changes in human attitudes to the pig
In: Sustainable food production and ethicsSearch for other papers by Reinhard Huber in
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2Danish Centre for Bioethics and Risk Assessment, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, DK-1958 Frederiksberg C, Denmark
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Over its at least 9000 years of common history with humans, the pig has moved out of the pigsty, into the farrowing crate or fattening pen of the pork production industry, and more recently into the laboratory, where it is a standardized model animal. Likewise, human attitudes have shifted: pigs were once regarded almost as family members, then as production units, and then as pivots in the development of new medical treatments. The way we view animals doubtless influences the way we treat them. The intensification of farm animal production has lead to a devaluation of the individual animal. After an introduction to the different roles of the pig, in this paper we discuss whether the increased economic and scientific value of the research model pig may result in its acquisition of elevated status and better treatment. Possible arguments are that humans will treat pigs better the more they contribute to our welfare (out of gratitude), the closer we see them as being to us, or simply to compensate for the wrongs we do to some of them. However, given the human tendency to fit animals to our own purposes, it is questionable whether an increased perception of individuality will improve the treatment and welfare of pigs in general.