Does the welfare of farm animals (really) matter?

Dr. Molnár has a BSc Honours in Zoology (University of Reading, UK), a MSc and a PhD in Environmental Sciences and Policy (Central European University, Austria) and is specialized in animal welfare science and advocacy. She has worked in multiple sectors (NGO, civil service, intergovernmental organisations, and academia) and is therefore highly committed to an interdisciplinary and pragmatic approach to problematic human-animal interactions. Her current research interests include the complex problem of transitioning mainstream animal agriculture to ethically and environmentally sound practices that are sustainable and provide good lives for farm animals. She is currently working as an independent researcher, is associated with the Animal Welfare Program of the University of British Columbia and acts as a consulting expert of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.

Commercial farming faces increasing scrutiny and is therefore an area of much scientific investigation. The presentation will aim to give a broad overview of farm animal welfare problems in different production systems and present a range of tools used in the European Union to mitigate these challenges. By introducing a case study on Hungarian pig farming, empirical data will be presented on the day-to-day realities of animal agriculture and the perspectives of conventional (confinement) and alternative farmers on external, and internal factors that influence on-farm conditions. This study challenges mainstream views on animal ethics, socio-economic factors, and legislation, and therefore will challenge the audience to think whether the welfare of farm animals really does matter.

The talk will be given online. We will provide a Teams link in the reminder e-mail.