Everyday Choices, Everyday Impact

Every choice we make ripples outward — what we eat, wear, buy, and support all touch the lives of animals in ways we rarely stop to see. From the food on our plate to the products in our homes, there's no shortage of moments where a little more awareness can mean a little less suffering. Small shifts, repeated daily, add up to real change.

Useful Animal Welfare Tools

There are many ways animals are used in our society. Explore some of the issues below and use these simple tools to reflect on why we make the choices we do, consider different perspectives, and think about what those choices might mean for the animals involved.

Equal Consideration of Interests

Think about the principle of Equal Consideration of Interests - the idea that an individual’s interests in avoiding suffering and experiencing wellbeing should matter, regardless of whether they are human or another species.

In animal welfare, this means asking whether we give animals’ interests the same consideration we would give similar human interests, rather than treating those interests as less important simply because they belong to a different species.

We can use the issues below to reflect on animal interests:

What interests might the animal have in this situation?
Would we consider these interests differently if the individual were human?
Does the species of the individual affect how we value those interests? Why?

Harm-Benefit Analysis

Also think about Harm-Benefit Analysis: weighing the harms of a decision to animals, including potential suffering or loss of wellbeing, against the benefits it provides to humans.

In animal welfare, this encourages us to consider whether the human benefits of using animals justify the welfare harms experienced by the animals involved.

We can use the issues below to reflect on animal welfare harms and benefits:

What are the harms to the animals involved?
What benefits do humans gain?
How significant are the harms and benefits, and to whom?
Are there other ways to achieve the same human benefits with less harm to animals?
What would we think if the balance of harms and benefits were different?

Why do we think the way we do?

Are we speciesist? Do we discriminate based on species without realising it?

Explore this introduction to animal ethics, with particular attention to Equal Consideration of Interests, and reflect on what it might mean for the way we understand and approach animal welfare.

This video invites you to question how we understand, value and treat animals, and to consider whether greater awareness could change the choices we make.