I actually found the point about the number of lab mice/​rats quite interesting—I wasn’t really aware of it before, even though I did know that mice and rats make up the majority of lab animals and that the total number of farmed land animals is dominated by chickens.
Overall, however, I believe that the proxies mentioned here are quite reasonable. Specifically, in defense of them, I would add:
Minority farmed animals vs. majority lab animals: Work on farmed cows will also raise public awareness about the living conditions of farmed animals in general, which will ultimately benefit other species (e.g., chickens).
The number of animals in a region vs. the number of animals affected: It is always preferable to prioritize interventions that reach a large percentage of animals in a given country over those that do not. Even if some of these interventions have not yet been widely tested in certain countries or may not be directly implementable in the same way as in Western countries, a stronger focus on, for example, China could also lead to the discovery of large-scale intervention strategies within the country itself.
Farmed animals vs. wild animals: Generally, there are still many unresolved questions regarding wild animal suffering. However, I don’t think anyone claims that the number of animals is the sole determining factor in prioritization—it is simply one of several factors.
On Nuance in Scale:
I actually found the point about the number of lab mice/​rats quite interesting—I wasn’t really aware of it before, even though I did know that mice and rats make up the majority of lab animals and that the total number of farmed land animals is dominated by chickens.
Overall, however, I believe that the proxies mentioned here are quite reasonable. Specifically, in defense of them, I would add:
Minority farmed animals vs. majority lab animals: Work on farmed cows will also raise public awareness about the living conditions of farmed animals in general, which will ultimately benefit other species (e.g., chickens).
The number of animals in a region vs. the number of animals affected: It is always preferable to prioritize interventions that reach a large percentage of animals in a given country over those that do not. Even if some of these interventions have not yet been widely tested in certain countries or may not be directly implementable in the same way as in Western countries, a stronger focus on, for example, China could also lead to the discovery of large-scale intervention strategies within the country itself.
Farmed animals vs. wild animals: Generally, there are still many unresolved questions regarding wild animal suffering. However, I don’t think anyone claims that the number of animals is the sole determining factor in prioritization—it is simply one of several factors.