Anna,

I think we are talking about two different issues.  One is whether animals
are benefitial in organic agriculture and the other one is whether it is
ethical to slaughter them for meat.  As Frank Rennie pointed out there is
a place for animals in agriculture maintaining grasslands biodiversity,
improving nutrient cycling and as a means for diversification, there are
other benefits. Ruminants can utilize resources from non-arable lands,
control of invasive species, fire fuel reduction...Animals are also used
for more than meat, an example is pharmaceutical products.  As far as the
ethical issues of slaughtering animals I often struggle with it myself but
it has been shown that introducing meat and milk in the diets of children
in developing countries improves their health, brain development, learning
capacity and leadership behaviour.

Cheers


> Anna
> You should tap into the work of the European Forum for Pastoralism and
Nature Conservation. They have a lot of good publications over the years,
and in particular numerous studies to show areas where there are benefits
(social and environmental) from 'using' animals , eg the need to moderate
and mixed grazing on grassland ecosystems in order to maintain a high
floral biodiversity that would be be lost by either intesive agricultue or
by 'leaving it all to nature',,
> Their web site is at http://www.efncp.org/
> Good lucjk
> Frank
>
>
> Dr Frank W. Rennie
> Convenor: Research School of Sustainable Rural Development
> Lews Castle College
> UHI Millennium Institute
> Stornoway
> Isle of Lewis
> Western Isles
> Scotland
> Phone; +44-(0)1851-770451
> Fax: +44-(0)1851-770001
> www.lews.uhi.ac.uk/Research/StaffRec1.htm
>
> >>> Anna Olsson <[log in to unmask]> 10/29/03 10:27pm >>>
> Dear all,
>
> Being new to this list, I hope you bear with me for sticking my neck
out, but I have a question I've been waiting to be able to discuss with
those more knowledgeable than I in organic agriculture. In my work, I
often get involved in discussions of different ethical aspects of human-
animal co-existence, and me being trained in animal science I tend to
defend the place of animals in agriculture. As you can imagine, that
clashes with the vegan position, that the only ethical approach to animals
is to let them live. I've kept on defending that a responsible low-
intensity animal husbandry is an essential part in organic agriculture,
but I've started to think I may need to reformulate this position. Maybe
animals are not that essential? Or maybe it would be possible to keep just
a few animals and let them live until they die of old age?
>
> Your comments would be very welcome. And I would very much appreciate
the international perspective.
>
> Best wishes
> Anna Olsson
>
> Anna Olsson
> Postdoctoral research fellow
> Animal Behaviour & Welfare - Bioethics
>
> Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology
> Rua Campo Alegre 823
> 4150-180 Porto, Portugal
> Phone +351 22 607 4900
> Faz +351 22 609 9157
>

Pelayo Alvarez
Ecology Graduate Group
University of California, Davis
Phone 530-750-2492