Animal Trade, The: Evolution, Ethics and Implications

Trade is an inevitable part of human activity and evolution, but when it involves animals there are important ethical issues that have to be considered. Animal trade is often for economic reasons only, and may be hard to justify ethically. There are significant welfare and environmental costs to animals and human society that must be carefully evaluated before such a trade is sanctioned. Controversial and thought-provoking, this text focuses on the trade in live and dead animals and animal parts. It examines the facts and figures to quantify the scope of the animal trade, concentrating mainly on farm animals, but also covering captive wildlife and companion animals. The book describes welfare, environmental, economic and cultural issues around this trade, debating important ethical considerations for everyone that uses or is otherwise involved with animals, especially people in animal welfare.

About the Author

Professor Clive Phillips studied agriculture at undergraduate level and obtained a PhD in dairy cattle nutrition and behaviour from the University of Glasgow in 1983. He then lectured in farm animal production and medicine at the Universities of Wales and Cambridge, conducting research into cattle and sheep nutrition and welfare. In 2003 he became the inaugural holder of Australia's first Chair in Animal Welfare, at the University of Queensland, and established the Centre for Animal Welfare and Ethics. He is involved in the development and implementation of State and Federal government welfare policies and has published over 400 articles on animal nutrition, welfare and management in scientific journals and has authored or edited 13 books and over 50 book chapters. He also edits a book series for Springer on the welfare of animals and CABI's Animal Behaviour and Welfare Cases. As Australia's first professor of animal welfare, Prof. Phillips devoted his time to developing animal welfare and ethics research and teaching, with a focus on good nutrition. Prior to emigrating to Australia he lectured at the Universities of Cambridge (1995-2003) and Wales (1984-1995) in the United Kingdom. His research is concerned with many different animals: livestock during ship transport, dogs and cats in shelters, racehorses and zoo animals, and also with our ethical responsibilities towards animals. He is particularly interested in understanding and improving animal welfare in Asia and conducts regular workshops and research projects in China and nearby countries. In 2010 he established the on-line journal Animals, which is now one of the leading journals in the field. In 2009 his book The Welfare of Animals: The Silent Majority was shortlisted for an Australian Museum Eureka prize. In 2012 he received the Australian Museum Eureka Award for Scientific Research that contributes to Animal Protection. He currently chairs both the Queensland and Western Australian Governments' Animal Welfare Advisory Boards and previously chaired the UK's Agriculture Ministry Bovine Tuberculosis husbandry review panel. He was the Independent Member of the UK's Milk Development Council and Member of the UK Government's Select Committee to review the zinc-cadmium sulphide dispersion tests conducted by the Ministry of Defence during the Cold War.