Wild Animal Suffering

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Many people have an idyllic view according to which nature is like a great paradise to nonhuman animals. However, the evidence available shows that animals face many threats to their well-being, including among others hunger and thirst, harmful weather events, disease, and injuries. In fact, population dynamics indicates that the majority of animals die, often painfully, shortly after coming into existence, thus having few possibilities for enjoyment. Suffering therefore prevails for many animals. However, there are different ways to help them, ranging from rescues and shelters to vaccination programs and cases of intervention during extreme weather events. Further academic research about how to help wild animals will allow to expand such efforts. Support from people concerned with the situation of animals can be crucial to make this possible.

Oscar Horta, our speaker, is one of the founders of Animal Ethics, an international animal advocacy organisation with a focus on wild animal suffering. Horta is also a professor at the University of Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

Chair: Dr Ella Whiteley, LSE Fellow in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method