Animal Ethics in the Wild
Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature

Most people believe we should help others in need; this book argues we should also help starving, wounded and sick wild animals.

Catia Faria (Author)

9781009100632, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 December 2022

200 pages
23.5 x 15.8 x 1.8 cm, 0.48 kg

'In recent years, interest in wild animal suffering has increased significantly, but long before that Catia Faria was already a pioneer on this topic. Her long-awaited book, Animal Ethics in the Wild, is a groundbreaking contribution that makes a compelling case for why this is a very important, yet often overlooked, problem. The book explores in careful detail the normative underpinnings of our reasons for helping wild animals to prevent the natural harms they suffer. I hope this book will be widely read, as anyone interested in what we owe animals would benefit greatly from it.' Oscar Horta, Professor of Moral Philosophy, University of Santiago de Compostela

Animals, like humans, suffer and die from natural causes. This is particularly true of animals living in the wild, given their high exposure to, and low capacity to cope with, harmful natural processes. Most wild animals likely have short lives, full of suffering, usually ending in terrible deaths. This book argues that on the assumption that we have reasons to assist others in need, we should intervene in nature to prevent or reduce the harms wild animals suffer, provided that it is feasible and that the expected result is positive overall. It is of the utmost importance that academics from different disciplines as well as animal advocates begin to confront this issue. The more people are concerned with wild animal suffering, the more probable it is that safe and effective solutions to the plight of wild animals will be implemented in the future.

1. Moral considerability
2. Speciesism
3. Wild animal suffering
4. Perversity and futility
5. Jeopardy
6. Relationality
7. Priority
8. Tractability.

Subject Areas: Zoology & animal sciences [PSV], Bio-ethics [PSAD], Ethical issues & debates [JFM], Animals & society [JFFZ], Ethics & moral philosophy [HPQ], Animals & nature in art [still life, landscapes & seascapes, etc AGN]