Conversely, welfarists argue that abolitionist purity is a luxury that condemns animals to suffer in the present. A ban on battery cages, they note, immediately improves the lives of millions of hens, even if it doesn't free them. As the philosopher Bernard Rollin put it, "Rome was not built in a day, nor will the abolition of animal suffering be."
The Global Evolution of Animal Welfare and Rights: Ethics, Law, and Action
They possess consciousness, memory, emotions, and a desire to continue living. Therefore, they have that is not contingent on their usefulness to humans.
Interestingly, both frameworks are now being challenged by new science. Discoveries of tool use in birds, play behavior in octopuses, grief in elephants, and problem-solving in fish have shattered the old Cartesian view of animals as mindless automata. The legal world is responding: countries like Spain, Switzerland, and Germany have enshrined animal welfare in their constitutions. Courts are beginning to grant legal personhood to great apes, dolphins, and even natural entities like rivers.
A welfare advocate looks at a pasture-raised dairy farm. The cows graze on grass, have shelter, receive veterinary care, and are killed quickly. The advocate says: This is acceptable. The cow had a good life and a quick death. A rights advocate looks at the same farm and notes: The cow was artificially inseminated. Her calf was taken from her hours after birth (causing distress). She was put into a milk machine. At age five, she was slaughtered—though her natural lifespan is twenty years. No matter how green the grass, she was used as a milk machine. This is exploitation.
accepts that humans may use animals for food, clothing, research, and entertainment, but insists that this use must be humane. The primary goal of welfare is to minimize suffering and maximize well-being. It operates within existing legal and economic systems to advocate for better living conditions, painless slaughter methods, and stricter anti-cruelty laws. The scientific framework for welfare is often guided by the "Five Freedoms": freedom from hunger and thirst; freedom from discomfort; freedom from pain, injury, or disease; freedom to express normal behavior; and freedom from fear and distress.