Animals serve as models for human disease testing, drug development, and toxicity screening.
No discussion of animal welfare and rights is complete without the most controversial modern arenas.
| Feature | Animal Welfare | Animal Rights | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Acceptable, if regulated | Intrinsically wrong | | Goal | Reduce suffering | End use and ownership | | On factory farming | Larger crates, anesthesia for castration | Abolition | | On zoos | Enriched habitats, breeding programs | Inherent captivity is cruelty | | On hunting | "Fair chase" rules, quick kills | Violation of right to life | | Dietary stance | Free-range, grass-fed, cage-free | Strict veganism |
In 2021, the UK passed the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act, formally recognizing that vertebrates (and some invertebrates like octopuses) are sentient. France and Spain have passed similar laws. While symbolic, this creates a legal duty for the government to consider animal suffering when making policy—a profound shift from viewing animals as insensate machines.
