ABSTRACT
Farmed animals do not capture the ethical attention of most ordinary people. This is partly because, in the UK and other developed Western societies, the large majority of people do not live in close proximity to them. It is also because farmed animals are typically viewed at a group level rather than individually, and so do not have the personal attributes projected onto them that might suggest they are worthy of moral consideration. Nevertheless, animals that are farmed have a close relation to humans. This is shown by their vulnerability, especially their inability to defend themselves against predators and disease (Palmer, 2011). It is also shown by their dependency, with farmed animals having been reared to have their needs met principally by humans. Due to this close relation with humans, farmed animals deserve a high level of ethical consideration by humans.
