Publication Alert: New frontiers in animal welfare science and an introduction to (farmed) insects
New frontiers in animal welfare science: An introduction to (farmed) insects (Barrett 2024; Veterinary Record)
Acknowledgement of Funding and Conflicts of Interest: MB reports a relationship with the Insect Welfare Research Society that includes: board of advisors (unpaid).
Thanks so much to the British Veterinary Association for inviting this research comment in advance of my talk with Dr. Jonathan Birch at the Animal Welfare Discussion Forum in London this month! Our talk is entitled ‘The minds of insects and why they matter’ - also the theme of the research comment! In this short paper, I briefly introduce:
The diversity of insects
Evidence relevant to the plausibility of insect sentience
The insects as food and feed industry and some welfare concerns that may manifest therein
“A striking result of the [Gibbons et al. 2022] review was how few criteria had ever been researched at any life stage in any order (resulting in a confidence grade of ‘no research found’ for that criterion), suggesting empirical disinterest in candidate markers for the plausibility of sentience in these animals. ”
Looking forward to further discussion with the British Veterinary community on the welfare on these novel mini-livestock at this year’s AWF!
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