Animal Ethics with Peter Sandøe

Animals in Translation is a podcast brought to you by hosts from across the globe who talk with experts about their animal welfare work. The goal? To deconstruct animal issues into palatable pieces for listeners wanting to dig deeper into international animal welfare, ethics, or policy. Tune in monthly for new episodes.

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Sophie and Kerri interview bioethics professor, Peter Sandøe, about his long career in animal ethics and companion animal welfare at University of Copenhagen.  Sandøe values cross-cultural and multi-disciplinary discussions when it comes to animals. In this interview, he explains the need for understanding diverse viewpoints and ethical pluralism for collaboration and progress within animal welfare, which is highlighted in his 2013 publication, The Good, the Right, and the Fair. Sandøe discusses his most recent paper, A Consensus on the Definition of Positive Animal Welfare, and the process in which it came about. He also touches on examples of applied animal ethics topics including: wildlife rehabilitation and the importance of returning animals to the wild for the prevention of pet-ification; cultural differences in pet ownership and sterilization norms; end-of-life decisions for shelters and pet owners; speciesism and the need to reevaluate the categorization of animal groups; and the need for better welfare of farmed animals, especially pigs. Sandøe concludes his interview by addressing how political crises hinder animal welfare progress, such as the EU’s Cage Free Europe, and stressed the need for peace for the sake of human and non-human animals alike.