My name is Jill MacKay, and I'm an animal behavior and

welfare researcher with a particular interest in the human-animal bond and

how we talk about animal welfare in general.

I think some of the most interesting cultural differences that we think

about with animal welfare are probably best exemplified with the dogs.

So in western cultures, we typically think of dog being man's best friend.

And they are the faithful pet who waits for us when we come home from school.

However, this is not a global view.

If you think about areas where there are lots of feral dogs,

they become a bit of a public health risk.

Particularly for they carry lots of diseases such as rabies,

which makes the dogs very aggressive.

And they can actually fatally attack people

which makes them really dangerous from a public health perspective.

And dogs become something to be feared.

And this happens particularly in some regions in India and

some countries in Africa.

And that's very different from the way we perceive them in the west.

And if you move further east to China, well dogs there,

they become a product for meat.

And yet in China they also have companion animal dogs as pets as well.

Much like the way, in Europe, we will have horses bred for meat and yet horses for

companion animals.

So dogs serve a dual role there.

But when you come back to the west and the western culture,

even though we have this idea of dogs being man's best friend, we also use

them in industry and in pharmaceutical testing and in clinical trials.

So they serve a multitude of different purposes.

And although they're just one species and we've got a long history with them within

humanity, we have many different cultural viewpoints on them and

they serve a wide variety of roles.

Well, it's important to remember that regardless of what the culture is looking

at the dog, what the use of the dog is within that particular culture or

society, what really matters for

the dog's welfare is how the dog is perceiving the world, what's it feeling?

What sensations is it perceiving?

And really what's going on through that dogs eyes?

What's happening in that's dog particular mind?

So from that point of view,

the welfare needs of a dog regardless of whether it's a companion animal,

a beloved pet, an animal used in clinical trials or even a meat dog.

Its needs are very, very similar all across those different categories.

So the culture may look at things differently, but

the welfare needs of the dogs don't change.

International standards for animal welfare is absolutely possible,

even across all these different cultures that we've been talking about.

But the only way to do that is to have a common language and a common standard.

And the way for that,

is to have scientifically backed evidence behind what we're saying.

It's all very well for us to say that, oh, we think of a dog as a pet.

But, unless we have the scientific evidence that dos like

human companionship, which in fact they do, it doesn't matter.

So what we have to do, is pervade that scientific evidence, pervade that way of

talking about animal welfare, in a scientific and objective manner.

And then we can have an international standard of animal welfare.

Animal Welfare and Cultural Differences: Interview With Dr MacKay

Animal Behaviour and Welfare

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