That’s a tough one, Chris. I assume you’re looking for something like, “On a −1 to 1 scale, the average welfare of broiler chickens is −0.7, the average welfare of pigs is −0.1, the average welfare of cattle is 0.2, etc.” Is that right? The closest thing to that would be the scores that Norwood and Lusk give in Compassion by the Pound, though not for shrimp, and I also tend to think that their numbers skew high. For the most part, animal welfare scientists aren’t interested in scoring welfare on a cardinal scale, so it’s an oddity when they try. (Marc Bracke is one exception, though I don’t think you’re going to get what you want from his papers either.) I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help!
> For the most part, animal welfare scientists aren’t interested in scoring welfare on a cardinal scale, so it’s an oddity when they try.
Just to confirm, you and Rethink Priorities are using a cardinal scale for your welfare ranges, right? So when you say that a cow has a welfare range of 0.5, you implicitly mean that there is some universal scale where a cow’s minimal welfare is −0.25 and maximum is +0.25 (or shifted if we don’t assume symmetry).
I guess I’m confused on why there isn’t more work on estimating the average realized values of welfare, both from Rethink and from other animal welfare scientists. Those values are necessary for foundational claims like “eating 1000 calories of beef creates demand for X units of suffering”, or “moving cows to a pasture will increase welfare by Y units”.
Yes, Chris: we’re using a cardinal scale. To your point about estimating the average realized values of welfare, I agree that this would be highly valuable. Animal welfare scientists don’t do it because they don’t face decisions that require it. If you’re primarily responsible for studying broiler welfare, you don’t need to know how to compare broiler welfare with pig welfare. You just need to know what to recommend to improve broiler welfare. As for RP, we’d love to work on this and I’ve proposed such projects many times. However, this work has never been of sufficient interest to funders. If that changes, you can bet I’ll devote a lot of time to it!
That’s a tough one, Chris. I assume you’re looking for something like, “On a −1 to 1 scale, the average welfare of broiler chickens is −0.7, the average welfare of pigs is −0.1, the average welfare of cattle is 0.2, etc.” Is that right? The closest thing to that would be the scores that Norwood and Lusk give in Compassion by the Pound, though not for shrimp, and I also tend to think that their numbers skew high. For the most part, animal welfare scientists aren’t interested in scoring welfare on a cardinal scale, so it’s an oddity when they try. (Marc Bracke is one exception, though I don’t think you’re going to get what you want from his papers either.) I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help!
Thanks Bob, much appreciated.
> For the most part, animal welfare scientists aren’t interested in scoring welfare on a cardinal scale, so it’s an oddity when they try.
Just to confirm, you and Rethink Priorities are using a cardinal scale for your welfare ranges, right? So when you say that a cow has a welfare range of 0.5, you implicitly mean that there is some universal scale where a cow’s minimal welfare is −0.25 and maximum is +0.25 (or shifted if we don’t assume symmetry).
I guess I’m confused on why there isn’t more work on estimating the average realized values of welfare, both from Rethink and from other animal welfare scientists. Those values are necessary for foundational claims like “eating 1000 calories of beef creates demand for X units of suffering”, or “moving cows to a pasture will increase welfare by Y units”.
Yes, Chris: we’re using a cardinal scale. To your point about estimating the average realized values of welfare, I agree that this would be highly valuable. Animal welfare scientists don’t do it because they don’t face decisions that require it. If you’re primarily responsible for studying broiler welfare, you don’t need to know how to compare broiler welfare with pig welfare. You just need to know what to recommend to improve broiler welfare. As for RP, we’d love to work on this and I’ve proposed such projects many times. However, this work has never been of sufficient interest to funders. If that changes, you can bet I’ll devote a lot of time to it!