THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ANIMAL WELFARE & ANIMAL RIGHTS
In Malawi and indeed many African countries that I have lived, the phrases ‘animal rights’ and ‘animal welfare’ are often used interchangeably, but there is a significant difference between the two. It is therefore our role as animal welfare people to try and paint the difference between these two significantly different ideologies as any advocate for animal compassion is dismissed immediately as a space wasting animal rightist in most social settings. It is with cynicism that most animal well being advocates are viewed by the general public and sadly also by policy developers. This is indeed the reason why most African countries grapple with archaic or even non-existent animal utilization regulations. Animal utilization by man-kind has been documented in many different spheres of society that varies from status, haulage, food, war, medicine, tourism, culture & tradition, security and even worship. This is by no means an exhaustive list of human use for animals but demo...