As heatwaves hit Britain, spare a thought for farm animals | Letters
Claire Bass says animal welfare is a blind spot for the government. Plus, Chris Phillipson on the libraries operating as ‘cool spaces’, Mick Beeby on lido restoration, and Dr Julian...
By Guardian Staff · The Guardian Opinion
Claire Bass says animal welfare is a blind spot for the government. Plus, Chris Phillipson on the libraries operating as ‘cool spaces’, Mick Beeby on lido restoration, and Dr Julian McDonough on NHS pressures Your article rightly highlights the strain heatwaves place on farming ( Adapting to global heating: which UK public services are struggling in hot weather?, 5 August ). But the government’s thinking on climate adaptation has a troubling blind spot down at the farm: animal welfare. The Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022 requires ministers to consider animals as sentient beings when developing policy, yet current discourse on heatwaves and farming treats animals almost entirely as economic assets: deaths are framed as “reduced productivity”, rather than as sentient individuals enduring terrible suffering. Continue reading...