The mishandling of animals in business across the world has caused a lot of controversies. Many businesses increase their profits by mistreating animals in various ways, such as difficult living conditions, e.g., poultry farming, overdoing of antibiotics, slaughtering of animals at an immature stage, and massive drug testing. A lot of animal welfare laws safeguard wild animals, excluding those in farms or labs. In the 19th century, the American Society for the Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), together with the American Humane Association, was formed to protect animal rights. In the 1950s, the first federal animal protection law (the Humane Slaughter Act) succeeded, hence preventing farm animals' killing. Animal Welfare was enacted in 1966, which prohibited inhumane acts to animals in labs. Eventually, the modern animal rights social movement commenced in the 1970s to 1980s. This movement steered both the consumers and businesses to raise awareness on animal ethics. Despite the fact that animal welfare laws have improved animals' cruelty, the ethical treatment concern still remains. Business owners should be aware that inhumane handling of animals may affect their businesses in various ways.
Agribusiness is one of the key concerns industries in terms of animal rights. Historically, humans have used animals for food and labor in agriculture. For a community with high legal and ethical merits, every person's handling of animals (for example, livestock farmers, fish farmers, transporters, and dealers) should be fitting. Ethical sensitivity towards what we eat may finally reshape agribusiness. This could be achieved by allocating more land to growing agricultural products compared to those allocated to livestock farming.
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
Animals are usually used for medical research to test new drugs, chemicals, vaccines, or beauty products. Mice and rats are often used for lab testing, but birds, rabbits, and pigs are also used (Badyal, 2014). A lot of initiatives are emerging, trying to find out a replacement for animal testing. Some of the alternatives include the use of virtual drug trials, computer simulations, and models. Most companies use animals as experiments to save themselves from accountability if a customer is negatively affected by the product. A notable number of new research indicates consumer products, e.g., cosmetics, can be correctly tested for safety without animal abuse.
The United States allows medical research on animals but with fewer restrictions. Such laws aim to prevent avoidable mistreatment of animals by initiating standards for the correct handling and housing of animals in laboratories. The United Kingdom has an outstanding regulatory scheme on animal testing compared to Japan, which uses a self-regulation approach. The United States approach falls between the two approaches. The United States has less laws protecting animals from cosmetic testing than other nations that have taken open action. The Humane Society of the United States has encouraged the development of non-animal tests, which could, thereafter, offer more human safety data. Consumers should prefer animal tested free cosmetics; this would largely impact on how businesses conduct their testing.
In conclusion, humane handling of animals is a threat to society and a profit opportunity for businesses. Animal mishandling affects a company’s responsibility and also threatens the environment. Businesses from medical companies to restaurants should recognize the increasing public awareness of the ethical treatment of animals. Companies should also examine the new humane approach to maintain a sustainable environment and also stay competitive in the market field. Consumer’s awareness of what we eat or consume can increase enhancement on how we treat our animals.
