Christianity and Farmed Animal Welfare

Abstract

The Christian Ethics of Farmed Animal Welfare project is an interdisciplinary engagement between Christian ethics and veterinary animal welfare science, with major UK churches and other organisations as partners. This article gives an account of the project and summarises its findings. The project concludes that Christians have reason to be concerned about farmed animal welfare, and that current animal welfare science provides good evidence concerning what particular species of farmed animals need to flourish. The project assesses current UK certification schemes in relation to the opportunities they offer for farmed animal flourishing. The project recommends that churches and other Christian organisations consume fewer, but higher welfare, animal products and avoid sourcing animal products from systems offering poor opportunities for flourishing.