Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy
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Plant sentience: Time scale matters
No full textSegundo-Ortin & Calvo (2023) have made a valuable effort in directing the discussion about plant sentience toward a strict scientific path. However, scientific endeavors must reconcile with common sense beliefs. Although nowadays people tend to accept the idea of animal sentience, this is not easily extended to plants. One reason is the difference in time scale in which phenomena occur in plants and animals; but this still does not preclude the possibility , in principle, of plant sentience in a form difficult for us to imagine
Dissociation between conscious and unconscious processes as a criterion for sentience
No full textBased on the literature on human consciousness, we suggest that to demonstrate sentience in a system, one needs to demonstrate both conscious and unconscious processing in the system. Major theories of consciousness require the existence of both conscious and unconscious processes. Contrasting effects of conscious and unconscious processes have been successfully used in human studies and have begun being applied in animal sentience research as well
Laboratory Primate Supply: Plus ça change, plus c\u27est la même chose
No full textThe use of laboratory primates in laboratories continues to prompt questioning and debate amid disruptions in supply
Measuring Biodiversity and Biodiversity Trends
No full textThe 15th Conference of Parties (COP15) for the UN Convention on Biological Diversity was held in two parts (in Kunming, China, in October 2021 and in Montreal, Canada, in December 2022). One primary goal for COP15 was the development of a Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) covering the coming decade (from 2023 through 2030). The GBF produced by the participating countries at COP15 included four long-term global goals for 2050 linked to the 2050 Vision for Biodiversity, along with 23 global targets for immediate action and completed by 2030. One outcome of the negotiations was the identification of the need to increase public awareness of the global biodiversity crisis leading to sustained activities to halt and reverse global biodiversity loss
Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza
No full textThe avian flu virus was the agent that caused the devastating worldwide influenza pandemic in 2018 that killed an estimated 50-100 million people, and health authorities continue to pay close attention to periodic outbreaks of avian flu. Currently, an H5N1 influenza virus is leading to millions of wild birds and domestic poultry deaths. Recently, this virus spread in a mink farm in Spain, raising the stakes that it might be able to spread among humans. While the current avian flu pandemic is a major economic problem for global farms and a major animal welfare concern for domestic poultry and wild bird populations, it is just a mutation away from becoming a major human health problem. Intensive animal farming systems could lead to the evolution of a new pandemic avian flu virus. While the world is discussing the global warming potential of modern food systems, it should also pay attention to the potential pandemic threats from concentrated animal feeding operations
Animal Welfare in World Religion by Joyce D\u27Silva
No full textThe major world faiths eloquently state how animals should be humanely treated but are largely silent on modern animal welfare challenges
“To Love not Man the Less, but Nature More”
No full textAn exploration of the nature restoration and rewilding developments in Europe and Scotland
Plastic Waste and the World’s Seas
No full textThe modern plastics industry may have been a boon to consumers, but the world is drowning in non-degradable plastic waste
From Horse-Drawn to Electric Carriages: Promoting a Paradigm Change
No full textHorses largely disappeared from urban streets in America after the 1920s. The development of a new e-carriage allows the few remaining horses to take a deserved retirement from dangerous, polluted urban streets
Animal Welfare - Environment - Sustainable Development Nexus: Scoping Study
No full textA detailed report on the links between animal welfare, environmental health and global sustainability. Issues discussed include climate change, biodiversity, pollution and waste management, one health, sustainable development and just transitions