Review of One Welfare by Rebeca García Pinillos

Abstract

Attitudes to the position of humans in the world, the status of nonhuman animals, and ideas about animal welfare have developed rapidly in recent years. This is partly because of a change in world economics, as consumers now have more power and dictate what they will buy, and partly because of advances in knowledge about the biology of all animals, including humans and the increasing damage to the world that is the result of human action [1].

The economic change is from a push economy, driven largely by producers, to a pull economy, driven largely by consumers. Consumers now wish to avoid products and actions that they consider to be morally wrong. More and more they are refusing to buy anything that is not sustainably produced. A system or procedure is sustainable if it is acceptable now and if its expected future effects are acceptable, particularly in relation to resource availability, consequences of functioning, and morality of action [2]. Modern consumers require transparency in commercial and government activities and take account of the ethics of production when they evaluate product quality. There are many components of sustainability and all should be taken into account but, for food products, many consumers in countries where surveys have been conducted consider the welfare of animals used in or affected by production to be a very important part of sustainability. For example, consumers are refusing to buy pig meat if the sows have been kept in stalls or tethers, eggs or egg products from hens in battery cages, or crop products if many bees, birds, or people have died as a result of herbicide or pesticide use.

The concepts of one biology, one health, and one welfare emphasize that each of these words mean the same whether the subject of the biology, health, or welfare is human or nonhuman [3, 4]. Moral action is not just about humans but concerns all sentient animals, and to some extent, all living beings. In the introduction to her book, Rebeca Garcia Pinillos emphasizes these points and says “One Welfare is a concept that encompasses, in a multidimensional way, a number of areas, including: the problems of animal production, workers and the impact on the environment of livestock farms; the reduction of violence across the world; and the connection between poor animal and human welfare states and how improved animal welfare can help improve human welfare.” Monique Eloit, Director General of the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), in a foreword to this book, has emphasized that the book develops further the “now well accepted” concept of One Health and “with the adoption of the OIE Global Animal Welfare Strategy during the 85th OIE General Session in May 2017, the OIE has specifically acknowledged the importance of multi-stakeholder and interdisciplinary approaches to animal welfare, and integrated this into our work”.

The extent to which scientific studies of welfare in a range of species are interconnected is the central theme of this book. Section topics include: the connections between animal and human abuse and neglect, the social implications of improved animal welfare, and the links between health, welfare, food security, and sustainability in terms of human interventions and the kinds of connections. Twenty case studies are used to exemplify these.

In order to utilize and understand all of this information, the meaning of the various concepts has to be clear. Biology is the study of living organisms, and their products welfare is the state of an individual as regards its attempts to cope with its environment, and health is the state of an individual as regards its attempts to cope with pathology. Welfare, like health, is a term that refers to individual animals and is scientifically measurable. For collections of individual humans or other species there can be accurate reference to the mean health or the mean welfare in the group. It is not scientifically accurate to refer to the health of a country or of the environment. However, it is important to consider how an environment affects the typical or mean health of individuals and how the health affects the stability of populations and other characteristics of environments. Wellbeing is best considered as a synonym of welfare. Quality of life is assessed in the same way as welfare but the term is not normally used for short time scales. As the author states in the introduction to the book,“ Health is an important part of welfare.” Health is not something separate from welfare. The coping systems that are involved in coping with the individual's environment have mental and physical aspects. Feelings and emotions are coping mechanisms, as are the immune system, wound healing systems, and many other physiological and behavioral mechanisms. Coping with pathology is an aspect of coping with the whole environment of the individual and its coping systems. A wide range of problems in life, responses to these, and positive responses to life are discussed in this book.

The scientific assessment of welfare has developed rapidly in the last 40 years. Some studies concern short-term situations and others long-term. The measures may indicate positive aspects of welfare or negative aspects but it is the net welfare, the balance between the positive and the negative which has to be determined during or after measurement. Many examples of situations where the welfare of individuals is measured are described in this book. The measurements are almost the same for humans and for other animal species and it is explained how those who study welfare in one species can learn from those studying another species. The fact that, for humans and all animal studied by humans, positive welfare often improves immune system function and other mechanisms so that the risk of adverse effects of pathogens is reduced, is a striking example of the similarities across species and the desirability of cooperation among experts on mental disorders, physical disorders, and the promotion of happiness in all species. The main message of this book is of wide general importance in the world.

Donald M. Broom: Writing—original draft; writing—review & editing; conceptualization.

The author declares no conflicts of interest.