Societal Concerns of Animal Exploitation in the UK
In the run up to the Paris Olympics, animal abuse was at the centre of a scandal after video footage emerged of double Olympic dressage champion Charlotte Dujardin, using a whip repeatedly on a horse during a training session. Most people including those involved with the sport were rightly, angered by the footage. Here in the UK, we have a reputation for being a nation of animal lovers and it came as no surprise that Dujardin was swiftly withdrawn from competing in Paris. Whether this was an isolated incident no one really knows other than those closely involved in the sport.
With many things in life, we know that as the stakes get higher, the likelihood of breaching boundaries, making compromises, pushing justifications or even breaking rules, are likely to increase. Whether it`s in sport, business, politics, academia, science or the arts, these associations often transition through personal ambition, financial gain, ego or any combination of these. In truth, few of us are immune to it completely but for me, there are clear distinctions when animals are involved.
We could also legitimately question why individual acts of animal abuse get far more attention than large scale animal exploitation or why some species are given preferential protection over others? Although relevant to this discussion, there are too many issues to debate at length here but are nevertheless, worth keeping in mind.
Exploiting animals for human benefit whatever the purpose brings with it a moral duty to ensure that the decisions we make regarding their welfare are both informed and compassionate ones. The scale of use and numbers of animals involved should never be an excuse for complacency to a point where we fail to see the animal as a living, sentient being. Once we begin to compromise animal welfare for the purposes of pleasure, profit or personal gain we have failed in our moral duty to them. But the consequences of neglecting our duty to animals can go much further too.
The dangers of complacency
It is quite possible that the Dujardin incident could result in a call to ban animal use in all future Olympic events and should serve as a reminder to the dangers of complacency for businesses or other organisation where animals are used in their business operations. Maybe I`m wrong, but I get the feeling that the perception of Olympic horse eventing as an elitist sport added to the depth of feeling and public condemnation of Dujardin`s training methods.
While laws exist to protect animals (particularly companion animals) they also allow for the legal exploitation of animals too such as for food production, sport and scientific research. Since one person`s animal use is another person`s animal abuse, there will never be universal consensus on the ethics of using animals for human benefit. Despite this, there is some general agreement on what constitutes deliberate animal cruelty and there are laws to protect animals against this (although it is often impossible to police and enforce them). It is also worth remembering that these laws evolve and change over time to reflect changing societal attitudes to animals.
Until fairly recently, many animal protection laws in the UK had remained unchanged since Victorian times or even earlier. These were written to address growing societal concerns around popular activities of the time like organised dog fighting, bear and badger baiting and the uncontrolled use of animals in scientific research. In contrast to today where a large number of new animal protection laws are in place that didn`t exist even 20 years ago. This I believe reflects the pace at which societal attitudes to animal use are changing and is also one that I feel will continue in a social media age that can promote both legitimate animal welfare concerns and activist-style propaganda to millions.
If we tie this with the erosion of political and institutional trust the UK has experienced in recent years, we can see how reports of perceived animal abuse however contentious, can engage a social media audience waiting and willing to be outraged. There is no quicker way for any individual, brand, commercial organisation or institution – however well-established, to lose public trust or have its reputation irreversibly tarnished than a demonstration of complacency towards the treatment of animals entrusted to them.
In fairness, we should acknowledge that in all likelihood Charlotte Dujardin loved her horses. To reach the pinnacle of her career has taken immense dedication, hard work and the forming of deep bonds with her horses. However, in the pursuit of perfection it seems to me she forgot that the horse cared a lot less about rosettes, reputations and gold medals than she did and both of them ultimately paid a price for it.
Gary Griffin
Zoophoria
