Page 95 - The Welfare of Cattle

72 the WeLfare of CattLe

This book focuses upon the welfare of cattle, both cattle used for meat and those used for dairy.
In the course of our narrative, we will discuss the telos of cattle and how it is maximally accom-
modated under extensive conditions. It is of course very unlikely that the cattle industry will move
more toward extensive rearing of cattle. In fact, given burgeoning populations, increasing income
in many Third World countries such as China and India, and above all an almost insatiable demand
for meat and milk, it is very likely that intensification will continue and very possibly increase.
Thus, we will also discuss, given cattle natures and the inexorable movement toward further inten-
sification, what is the best way in which intensified cattle production systems can maximize animal
welfare by assuring respect for telos.
Assuring the well-being of animals utilized for human purposes is a moral imperative. We have
presented the rational argument emerging in society for assuring morally sound animal treatment.
But there is another argument coming more perhaps from the heart than from the head. As I stated
in my first book on animal ethics published in 1981.
just as we morally expect fair and benevolent treatment at the hands of those capable of imposing their
wills upon us, so ought we extend similar treatment to those vulnerable to us.
For those among us who are not moved by moral arguments, there exists an undeniable argument
from self-interest. In their account of the nature of human life, the ancient Stoic philosophers
articulated a powerful metaphor that admirably fits the requirement that we all act in accord with
societal ethics. Paraphrasing them, I point out that social ethics can be schematized as an oxcart on
its way to a nearby town. You are chained to the oxcart. You have two choices—you can dig in your
heels and resist, in which case you will arrive at the town broken and bleeding. Or you could walk
when the oxcart walks, rest when it rests, in which case you will be unscathed.
Dealing with ethical issues raised by your activities is very much analogous to the Stoic point.
It is far easier to self-regulate and do the right thing than to wait for society to impose it upon you.
You understand your own activities far better than society does. You are far more concerned with
preserving your freedom of action than the rest of society is. And most important, you understand
what can practically be done without imposing great harm on the regulated area. In most cases,
society wants to see a problem solved and will impose a putative solution with a heavy hand. Self-
regulation, if permitted, will accomplish far more in a far less onerous manner. The emergence of
an industry devoted to creating “artificial meat,” in which even meat companies are investing, is
a harbinger of where society may turn if the animal industry fails to acquiesce to the demands of
society.