ABSTRACT
This chapter expands on the complex issue of an animal’s moral standing being shaped by the socially constructed classification of that animal. With the extension of factory farming to increasingly include non-vertebrate animals such as edible insects and cephalopods, a growing number of animals are now potential commodities for human consumption. As such, large-scale death of these animals through extreme weather events or zoonoses becomes insurance issues about economic loss rather than the moral welfare issue of death on an unimaginable scale. The background of the Five Freedoms of Animal Welfare is examined, including the contention that to be beneficial for an animal, consideration must be given to the inclusion of positive experiences that facilitate feelings of comfort, pleasure, interest, attachment, confidence and a sense of being in control. Case studies of some specific moral and ethical concerns are presented.
