The Animal Welfare Argument
I will particularly contextualize this argument in juxtaposition with the practices of factory farming, as our society's main alternative for obtaining meat for consumption.
Hunting promotes animal welfare, far more so than does factory farming.
By reducing the demand for factory farmed meat, hunting for food lowers the amount of suffering experienced by animals.
- Animals in the wild have higher (better) welfare than do those kept in confinement. Confinement prohibits natural behaviors, philosopher Donald Bruckner says, citing the fact that wild boars can root and nest, but factory farm-raised pigs cannot (Bruckner, 314). He adds that this limitation of natural behaviors has been scientifically shown to induce stress in animals. My proposed fair-chase conditions further increase welfare by forbidding any sort of confinement: animals must be free-ranging with full possibility for escape.
- Hunted game does not have to withstand the torture and fear of being brought to slaughter. While there may be fear in the heat of the chase, Bruckner deems this stress fleeting in comparison to the “prolonged torture-like state that hogs can be subjected to without food or water in the back of a tractor trailer” (Bruckner, 314). Wild game is instead a free-ranging animal until the very moment of its death.
- A death from the hunt is quick. A wild turkey hit in the head and neck will die immediately and big game (deer, bears, sheep) dies in a matter of seconds (Bruckner, 314). Animals suffer throughout their time on factory farms. By contrast, wild game lives life in the natural world and when killed, is killed almost instantaneously. This method of killing, comparatively to factory farming, increases animal welfare in its brevity. My stipulation of due care further increases animal welfare in this sense, by ensuring the hunter is well trained and prepared to kill with one shot.
- Hunting may also be used for ecological purposes for overpopulation control. Overpopulation of a species may lead to a shortage of preferred food, undernourishment, and even disease from too high of a population density. By hunting these animals, the consequences of such overpopulation can be evaded, increasing average animal welfare (Bruckner, 315). Note: I support this method of hunting, so long there is an underlying intent to eat the meat, as eating the meat additionally increases animal welfare, by reducing factory-farm demand.
By reducing the demand for factory farmed meat, hunting for food lowers the amount of suffering experienced by animals.