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Livestock, Ethics and Quality of Life
medicine because of the enormous costs of development. Some antibacterial drugs have been developed specifically for animal health and production, such as tylosin and tiamulin. The book contains a chapter on antimicrobial drug use in horses by S. Giguere and C.R. Sweeney. This chapter includes an extensive list ofequine infectious diseases and recommended antimicrobial therapy. This is an excellent book for any veterinary reference library. Wl
Livestock, Ethics and Quality of Life (2000); Edited by 1. Hodges and I.K. Hann; Published by CAB International; available from Oxford University Press; 6"X 9.5" hardbound; 269 pages; $90. 10hn Hodges writes in the preface, "The science of animal production has suddenly become world-class news. Everyone, everywhere, knows about Dolly the somatic-cell sheep clone and about mad-cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE). Both events have jumped unexpectedly into the public arena from the science of animal production. Global awareness on these two issues has brought into focus a more general and growing public unease about what animal science is up to these days. People are concerned about food safety, human health and quality of life for humans and animals. Biotechnology applied to domestic and laboratory mammals is increasingly perceived as 'meddling' in life-processes which are threateningly close to humans. The former image of animal science was of a beneficial and benign contributor to society, quietly enabling livestock producers to produce cheaper, safer and better quality animal products. That image has gone. Cloning of mammals, the threatened cloning of humans, the horror and administrative mess ofBSE and its associated new variant Creutzfeldt-lakob Disease (nvCJD) that is fatal for affected humans, genetically modified food and animal feeds and the health risks of inter-species xenotransplants are international news. Parliaments, governmental and inter-governmental commissions are examining some emerging animal science issues and, in some cases, have imposed legal restrictions. "Not only has the traditional image of animal scientists been shattered, but the reliability and ability of science and of governments to safeguard public Volume 21, Number 1, 2001
interests in food and human health is under question. In developed countries, agricultural research is increasingly funded by commerce and industry. Whose interests are being served? What motivates scientists? Can the proven objectivity of the scientific method be extended to the scientist himself? Or do scientists have personal values which affect their work? And what are these values? In the past many animal scientists have been motivated to contribute to increased animal production and productivity within the context of the unwritten code of the 'common good and the decent thing'. Today there is a growing feeling that animal science is more the servant of business and is driven by a value system which evaluates activities only in reductionist and market economy terms. "A new signal is coming from the public; give us cheap and safe food - but not at any cost; and especially not when the undeclared costs include uncertain risks for human health or other components of quality life such as the environment. .. It appears that, after all, man is not interested in bread alone but in the whole quality of life today and tomorrow. "Today, animal scientists are no longer simply serving the farmer and, by extension, the supermarket and consumer. We are now servants of, and accountable to, the whole of society. The new questions have moral and ethical components. Reductionist and objective animal science, which as the handmaid of market economy capitalism, has achieved so much good in increasing the supply of cheap food is today being challenged by broader quality of life values. "For the scientist this new public
arena raises new questions too ... "Animal science also impacts the Third World through development policies, transfer technology and the introduction of more intensive livestock production methods. The model of science boosting food production in the West is a strong argument for more research funding for developing agriculture to support the increasing populations and higher standards of living. The case for global free trade in farm products is partly supported by expectations that biotechnology in the West will put more food products on the world market. But the concerns about the impact of intensive livestock production on quality of life in the West are matched by concerns in developing countries although the precise fears are different. Many thoughtful leaders in Asia, Africa and Latin America are concerned about the negative effects of western business combined with agricultural science methods which they see as depleting historic cultures, introducing alien values and bringing economic colonialism. Developing countries experience an ambivalence, comparable with that now growing in the West, about the hidden costs of cheaper and more abundant food when it means the breakup of traditional societies and the import of exotic and .foreign values. The track record over the last 40 years of livestock development using imported western methods has a patchy history and is a story of mixed success and failure. Many development practitioners and ethicists are now searching for new systems approaches which include local values and expectations as well as good science ... "This book is designed to bring together animal science, ethics and quality of life issues. The authors come from a variety of professional disciplines from all parts of the world. They are close enough to livestock to open some windows enabling animal scientists to see their professional work in the larger perspective of life as a whole. There is a new drumbeat. We must decide if we shall listen and respond. And responding will need first some new thinking. The aim of this book is to stimulate fresh thinking as a prelude to action. "Earlier versions of many of the chapters in this book were first presented at a Special Symposium on 'Livestock, Ethics and Quality of Life. "'Wl 41
Livestock, Ethics and Quality of Life (2000); Edited by 1. Hodges and I.K. Hann; Published by CAB International; available from Oxford University Press; 6"X 9.5" hardbound; 269 pages; $90. 10hn Hodges writes in the preface, "The science of animal production has suddenly become world-class news. Everyone, everywhere, knows about Dolly the somatic-cell sheep clone and about mad-cow disease (bovine spongiform encephalopathy, BSE). Both events have jumped unexpectedly into the public arena from the science of animal production. Global awareness on these two issues has brought into focus a more general and growing public unease about what animal science is up to these days. People are concerned about food safety, human health and quality of life for humans and animals. Biotechnology applied to domestic and laboratory mammals is increasingly perceived as 'meddling' in life-processes which are threateningly close to humans. The former image of animal science was of a beneficial and benign contributor to society, quietly enabling livestock producers to produce cheaper, safer and better quality animal products. That image has gone. Cloning of mammals, the threatened cloning of humans, the horror and administrative mess ofBSE and its associated new variant Creutzfeldt-lakob Disease (nvCJD) that is fatal for affected humans, genetically modified food and animal feeds and the health risks of inter-species xenotransplants are international news. Parliaments, governmental and inter-governmental commissions are examining some emerging animal science issues and, in some cases, have imposed legal restrictions. "Not only has the traditional image of animal scientists been shattered, but the reliability and ability of science and of governments to safeguard public Volume 21, Number 1, 2001
interests in food and human health is under question. In developed countries, agricultural research is increasingly funded by commerce and industry. Whose interests are being served? What motivates scientists? Can the proven objectivity of the scientific method be extended to the scientist himself? Or do scientists have personal values which affect their work? And what are these values? In the past many animal scientists have been motivated to contribute to increased animal production and productivity within the context of the unwritten code of the 'common good and the decent thing'. Today there is a growing feeling that animal science is more the servant of business and is driven by a value system which evaluates activities only in reductionist and market economy terms. "A new signal is coming from the public; give us cheap and safe food - but not at any cost; and especially not when the undeclared costs include uncertain risks for human health or other components of quality life such as the environment. .. It appears that, after all, man is not interested in bread alone but in the whole quality of life today and tomorrow. "Today, animal scientists are no longer simply serving the farmer and, by extension, the supermarket and consumer. We are now servants of, and accountable to, the whole of society. The new questions have moral and ethical components. Reductionist and objective animal science, which as the handmaid of market economy capitalism, has achieved so much good in increasing the supply of cheap food is today being challenged by broader quality of life values. "For the scientist this new public
arena raises new questions too ... "Animal science also impacts the Third World through development policies, transfer technology and the introduction of more intensive livestock production methods. The model of science boosting food production in the West is a strong argument for more research funding for developing agriculture to support the increasing populations and higher standards of living. The case for global free trade in farm products is partly supported by expectations that biotechnology in the West will put more food products on the world market. But the concerns about the impact of intensive livestock production on quality of life in the West are matched by concerns in developing countries although the precise fears are different. Many thoughtful leaders in Asia, Africa and Latin America are concerned about the negative effects of western business combined with agricultural science methods which they see as depleting historic cultures, introducing alien values and bringing economic colonialism. Developing countries experience an ambivalence, comparable with that now growing in the West, about the hidden costs of cheaper and more abundant food when it means the breakup of traditional societies and the import of exotic and .foreign values. The track record over the last 40 years of livestock development using imported western methods has a patchy history and is a story of mixed success and failure. Many development practitioners and ethicists are now searching for new systems approaches which include local values and expectations as well as good science ... "This book is designed to bring together animal science, ethics and quality of life issues. The authors come from a variety of professional disciplines from all parts of the world. They are close enough to livestock to open some windows enabling animal scientists to see their professional work in the larger perspective of life as a whole. There is a new drumbeat. We must decide if we shall listen and respond. And responding will need first some new thinking. The aim of this book is to stimulate fresh thinking as a prelude to action. "Earlier versions of many of the chapters in this book were first presented at a Special Symposium on 'Livestock, Ethics and Quality of Life. "'Wl 41