Monitoring care, curating suffering: Law, bureaucracy and veterinary expertise in contemporary animal politics

Abstract

This article critically explores responses to the suffering of animals caused by industrialised agriculture aiming to reflect on broader aspects of the current state of animal politics in the 21st century. Focusing on the regulatory schemes introduced to control the welfare of animals in Denmark, the article foregrounds sites of law enforcement and industry regulation, in which animal suffering is ‘carefully’ curated. The analysed material comprises inspection reports and interviews with veterinary officers and technicians charged with monitoring the level of care in Danish agribusinesses. The article builds upon Kelly Oliver’s theory of witnessing to develop a sociological perspective on the function of expert testimony within regulatory and administrative domains – what is defined as acts of juridical eyewitnessing. Through this framework, it becomes evident that law and bureaucratic procedures wield considerable influence in transforming a social and legal expectation to reduce animal suffering into specific ethical-scientific and bureaucratic standards. Furthermore, in adopting a de-human-centred sociological lens, the article presents an alternative interpretation of the evolution of anti-suffering sentiment – understood as negative emotional responses to animal suffering – one in which the state plays a prominent role in shaping particular attitudes towards other animals based on ‘seeing’ and ‘knowing’ suffering.