ANIMAL-WELFARE DEFINED IN TERMS OF ATTEMPTS TO COPE WITH THE ENVIRONMENT

The term animal welfare is used in precise scientific investigations, in legal documents and in public statements or discussion. Welfare is a characteristic of an animal rather than something given by man. The welfare of an individual is its state as regards its attempts to cope with its environment. This state includes how much it is having to do to cope, the extent to which it is succeeding in or failing to cope, a nd its associated feelings. Welfare will vary over a continuum from ve ry good to very poor and studies of welfare will be most effective if a wide range of measures is used. Related concepts like need and stres s are also defined. The relevance of feelings to the welfare concept i s discussed with reference to the likely evolutionary origin of the me chanisms resulting in feeling.