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I read a report today that stated that research had concluded that caged hens were far happier and healthier than free range ones. Then I got to thinking about other news about housing shortages…………now they wouldn’t want to sell off ‘free range’ land for development would we?
Jason E Cooper 
The report from Bristol Univ ought to be carefully examined. It is written from the standpoint of welfarism – the dominant position in the regulation of animal’s lives by those on the right and the left.(see the Animal Welfare Act, 2006, which I had a hand in drafting), According to welfarism animal well being may be sacrificed if the benefits to humans and other animals is greater. Welfarism distinguishes between positive and negative welfare, which is quantitatively assessed according to the five freedoms of welfare (check them out).. It cannot assess happiness but welfarists slip references to happiness alongside their accounts of positive welfare. By their own standards happiness is too subjective for evaluation.But they speak of it to con the public. A good positive welfare score can be attained if the animals are slaughtered before negative welfare signs are detected. Proposals to genetically modify animals so that they cannot feel pain cause problems for welfarists, as they would meet criteria for positive welfare. I have published several reports attacking welfarism, but you won’t find anyone on the left engaged in a criticism. And I have pointed out how mass production of dogs as food products – for export to China, for example – could meet welfare standards. But sadly, leftists in the Guardian view my objections to this as racist.