ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the lives of working animals, highlighting the multiple ways in which animal labour has shaped human society. The chapter assesses how the presence or absence of animal power has influenced the development of civilisations and shows how the scope, volume and nature of animal labour has changed over time. It also considers the ethical questions posed by animal labour. Does labour confer respect, or merely suffering? Are working animals exploited slaves or valued partners? Does animal labour increase or decrease human exploitation? To illustrate some of the ethical complexities surrounding animal labour, the chapter includes three case studies: donkeys in the Ancient and early modern world, dog carts in nineteenth-century Britain and dog and primate astronauts in the mid-twentieth-century USSR and USA. A final case study on the role of horses in the Spanish conquest of Mexico (1519–1521) illustrates the role of animals in human warfare.
