Analysis n°58 - july 2013 Farmed animals’ status and rights in France: developments, challenges and outlook

The status and rights of animals have evolved radically in the West, and developments have gathered considerable momentum over the past few decades. One of the latest shifts involves production-animal welfare. There has been remarkable progress on this front, but several currents ofthought want to take it even further. The underlying trend in society seems to be heading towardsgreater concern for animal welfare, but this question is still the subject of some debate. Thinking about the status and rights of animals invariably involves thinking about the relationship between humans and animals, and viewsonthis issue in particular diverge and occasionally clash.Whatever theanswer, this societal trend entails—in the case of animals used in the service ofhumankind, and livestock in particular—the need to reconcile a new status and new rights withthe need tomanagethe services they render (their productive function) and therefore constantly putting animal and human interests into perspective.