Changes

Jump to: navigation, search

Timeline of wild-animal suffering

200 bytes added, 20:55, 19 July 2019
archive link of utilitarian-essays.com on June 2006
! Year !! Month and date !! Event type !! Details
|-
| 1851 || || Publication || Arthur Schopenhauer compares the pleasure experienced by a predator to the pain experienced by the prey to argue that the world contains more pain than pleasure.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Schopenhauer|first1=Arthur|title=On the Sufferings of the World|date=1851|url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Sufferings_of_the_World|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180720223325/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/On_the_Sufferings_of_the_World<!--https://archive.fo/GMP30-->|archivedate=2018-07-20|deadurl=no|quote=The pleasure in this world, it has been said, outweighs the pain; or, at any rate, there is an even balance between the two. If the reader wishes to see shortly whether this statement is true, let him zir compare the respective feelings of two animals, one of which is engaged in eating the other.}}</ref>
|-
| 1856 || {{dts|July 13}} || Publication || In a letter to Joseph Dalton Hooker, Charles Darwin discusses the wastefulness and cruelty of nature as an evidence against the existence of a benevolent God.<ref name="Murray">{{cite book|last1=Murray|first1=Michael|title=Nature Red in Tooth and Claw: Theism and the Problem of Animal Suffering|date=April 30, 2011|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0199596324|url=https://www.amazon.com/Nature-Red-Tooth-Claw-Suffering/dp/0199596328/}}</ref>
| 1874 || || Publication || John Stuart Mill's essay "On Nature" is published posthumously. The essay discusses the amorality and cruelty of nature and argues that humans should struggle against it.<ref>JS Mill. On Nature.</ref>
|-
| 1973 || {{dts|June 14}} || Publication || [[wikipedia:Peter Singer|Peter Singer]] responds to a question about predation, arguing against interference in practice because the long-term consequences of intervention cannot be predicted. However, he ze accepts that intervention to reduce wild-animal suffering would be morally justified if one could be reasonably confident that the long-term effects would be positive.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Singer|first1=Peter|title=Food for Thought|url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/1973/jun/14/food-for-thought/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180509205824/https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/06/14/food-for-thought/<!--https://archive.fo/WkUXS-->|archivedate=2018-05-09|deadurl=no|journal=The New York Review of Books|date=June 14, 1973}}</ref>
|-
| 1979 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:Stephen R. L. Clark|Stephen R. L. Clark]]'s article "The Rights of Wild Things" is published. It argues that humans should defend wild animals against unusually large dangers, but should not try to regulate all of nature.<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1080/00201747908601871|last1=Clark|first1=Stephen R. L.|title= The Rights of Wild Things|journal=Inquiry|volume=22|number=1-4|pages=171-188|year=1979|publisher=Routledge|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Clark%20-%20The%20rights%20of%20wild%20things.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722002829/http://www.stafforini.com/docs/Clark%20-%20The%20rights%20of%20wild%20things.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no|quote=It has been argued that if non‐human animals had rights we should be obliged to defend them against predators. I contend that this either does not follow, follows in the abstract but not in practice, or is not absurd. We should defend non‐humans against large or unusual dangers, when we can, but should not claim so much authority as to regulate all the relationships of wild things.}}</ref>
| 1993 || {{dts|June}} || Publication || David Olivier publishes the article "Pourquoi je ne suis pas écologiste" (Why I am not an environmentalist) in the French animal rights journal ''Les Cahiers antispécistes''.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |title=Pourquoi je ne suis pas écologiste |trans-title= Why I am not an environmentalist |journal= Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=June 1993 |volume=7 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/pourquoi-je-ne-suis-pas-ecologiste/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016183648/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/pourquoi-je-ne-suis-pas-ecologiste/ |archivedate=2017-10-16 | deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
|-
| 1995 || || Publication || Economist [[wikipedia:Yew-Kwang Ng|Yew-Kwang Ng]]'s paper "Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering" is published in ''Biology and Philosophy''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ng|first=Yew-Kwang|title=Towards Welfare Biology: Evolutionary Economics of Animal Consciousness and Suffering|journal=Biology and Philosophy|year=1995|volume=10|issue=3|pages=255–285|url=https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622113129/https://www.stafforini.com/library/ng-1995.pdf|archivedate=2018-06-22<!--http://www.webcitation.org/713tcQYz0 (downloads as attachment), https://archive.is/K4xZa (somewhat screwed up as it's a Google Cache of a PDF)-->|deadurl=no|doi=10.1007/BF00852469}}</ref> Ng introduces the term "welfare biology" (cf. [[wikipedia:conservation biology|conservation biology]]), which he ze defines as the positive study of the well-being of affectively sentient individuals. He Ze discusses which species possess affective sentience. Ng then mentions that many species produce a large number of offspring, only a few of which survive to maturity. The paper argues that non-survivors suffer negative welfare. Since non-survivors greatly outnumber survivors, Ng considers this evidence in favor of the "Buddhist premise" (that wild animals experience more total suffering than happiness).
|-
| 1995 || || Publication || [[wikipedia:David Pearce (philosopher)|David Pearce]] publishes his zirs transhumanist manifesto ''The Hedonistic Imperative'', which argues that biotechnology can and should be used to eliminate the experience of suffering.<ref>{{cite book|author=Pearce, David|title=The Hedonistic Imperative|url=https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180527232626/https://www.hedweb.com/hedab.htm|archivedate=2018-05-27|deadurl=no|date=1995|publisher=hedweb.com}}</ref> It includes a section on wild-animal suffering.
|-
| 1996 || December || Publication || ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' publishes its 14th edition, which is dedicated to discussing the problem of predation and human intervention in nature.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |last2=Bonnardel |first2=Yves |title=Éditorial |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721033959/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/editorial-14/<!--https://archive.is/AdO7s--> |archivedate=2018-07-21 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref> It features articles by David Olivier and Yves Bonnardel, as well as a translation of an article by Steve Sapontzis. For example, one article by Yves Bonnardel is entitled "Contre l’apartheid des espèces: À propos de la prédation et de l’opposition entre écologie et libération animale" ("Against the apartheid of species: On predation and the conflict between ecology and animal liberation").<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bonnardel |first1=Yves |title=Contre l’apartheid des espèces |trans-title=Against the apartheid of species |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=December 1996 |volume=14 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003100009/https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contre-lapartheid-des-especes/ |archivedate=2017-10-03 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
| 1998 || {{dts|October 20}} || Presentation || David Olivier of ''Les Cahiers antispécistes'' discusses wild-animal suffering at a debate at the Maison de l’Écologie in Lyon.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Olivier |first1=David |title= Contribution au débat à la maison de l’écologie |trans-title=Contribution to the debate at the Maison de l’Écologie |journal=Les Cahiers antispécistes |date=April 1999 |volume=17 |url=https://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org/contribution-au-debat-a-la-maison-de-lecologie/ |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180102133652/http://www.cahiers-antispecistes.org:80/contribution-au-debat-a-la-maison-de-lecologie/ |archivedate=2018-01-02 |deadurl=no |language=fr-FR}}</ref>
|-
| 2003 || (summer) || Publication || [[wikipedia:Tyler Cowen|Tyler Cowen]]'s paper "Policing Nature" is published in ''Environmental Ethics''.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Cowen|first=Tyler|title=Policing Nature|journal=Environment Ethics|year=2003|volume=25|issue=2|pages=169–182|doi=10.5840/enviroethics200325231|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Cowen%20-%20Policing%20nature.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317182237/https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Cowen%20-%20Policing%20nature.pdf|archivedate=2018-03-17|deadurl=no}}</ref> Cowen gives arguments from utilitarian, rights-based, and holistic moral perspectives in support of policing nature. He Ze criticizes the argument that humans should refrain from interfering in nature because it is hard to predict the results of intervention. Cowen discusses predator population reduction as a possible intervention.
|-
| 2005 || {{dts|May}} || || Brian Tomasik first begins to think about animal welfare after reading essays by Peter Singer.<ref name="howistarted">{{cite web|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|title=How I Started Writing about Wild-Animal Suffering|date= 10 August 2012|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/how-i-started-writing-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721225830/http://reducing-suffering.org/how-i-started-writing-about-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2005 || {{dts|July}} || || Brian Tomasik reads Bernard E. Rollin's ''Animal Rights & Human Morality'', which introduces him zir to the possibility of insect sentience.<ref name="howistarted" /> He Ze writes, "I was completely startled to realize this possibility and spent the next several minutes contemplating how much suffering the world would contain if this were true. The spider's webs in my basement began to take on a new, horrible significance."
|-
| 2005 || {{dts|October 17}} || || Brian Tomasik writes a letter to Peter Singer, asking him zir whether he ze thinks insects are sentient and whether they experience a net-negative balance of suffering over happiness.<ref name="howistarted" />
|-
| 2005 || {{dts|June}} || || Brian Tomasik hears about and reads David Pearce's Hedonistic Imperative.<ref name="howistarted" /> He Ze writes, "This piece helped me see how bad suffering was and may have been one of the last straws helping me see that life in the wild was far below hedonic zero on average, especially when the pain of death was taken into account."
|-
| 2006 || {{dts|June}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik's collection of essays on utilitarianism is first posted to his zirs website at utilitarian-essays.com.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061222015250/http://www.utilitarian-essays.com/|title=Utilitarian Essays|date=2006-12-22|website=web.archive.org|access-date=2019-07-20}}</ref>
|-
| 2006 || (summer) || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes "Calculations Regarding Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Calculations Regarding Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wild-animal-suffering-calculations.pdf |date=2006 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20150412175611/https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/wild-animal-suffering-calculations.pdf| archivedate=2015-04-12 |deadurl=no |website=A Collection of Essays on Utilitarianism}}</ref>
|-
| 2006 || {{dts|December}} || Community || [[wikipedia:Seth Baum|Seth Baum]] starts a utilitarian community blog Felicifia.com.<ref>{{cite web |title=Felificia Blog Post List |url=http://utilitarianism.wikia.com/wiki/Felificia_Blog_Post_List |website=Utilitarianism Wiki |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716035556/http://utilitarianism.wikia.com/wiki/Felificia_Blog_Post_List |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en}}</ref> He Ze had previously had a personal blog under the same name. Wild-animal suffering would become a popular topic of discussion on the site and its successor forum Felicifia.org.<ref>{{cite web|title=Google search results for wild animal suffering on Felicifia|url=https://google.com/search?hl=en&q=wild+animal+suffering+site%3Afelicifia.org|website=google.com|archiveurl=https://archive.is/60u51|archivedate=17 March 2018|deadurl=no|language=en}}</ref>
|-
| 2006 || {{dts|April 29}} || Publication || Matthew Clarke and Yew-Kwang Ng publish an article analyzing a kangaroo cull from the perspective of welfare biology.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Clarke|first1=Matthew|last2=Ng|first2=Yew-Kwang|title=Population Dynamics and Animal Welfare: Issues Raised by the Culling of Kangaroos in Puckapunyal|journal=Social Choice and Welfare|date=29 April 2006|volume=27|issue=2|pages=407–422|doi=10.1007/s00355-006-0137-8|url=https://stafforini.com/docs/Clarke%20&%20Ng%20-%20Population%20dynamics%20and%20animal%20welfare.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317234706/https://stafforini.com/docs/Clarke%20&%20Ng%20-%20Population%20dynamics%20and%20animal%20welfare.pdf<!--http://www.webcitation.org/715RsjOdY, https://archive.fo/q2IxR-->|archivedate=2018-03-17|deadurl=no}}</ref>
| 2006 || {{dts|July}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes "The Predominance of Wild-Animal Suffering over Happiness: An Open Problem".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=The Predominance of Wild-Animal Suffering over Happiness: An Open Problem |url=http://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wild-animals_2015-02-28.pdf |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716035926/https://reducing-suffering.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/wild-animals_2015-02-28.pdf |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=August 2007<!-- when it was posted to utilitarian-essays.com --> |website=A Collection of Essays on Utilitarianism}}</ref>
|-
| 2008 || (early) || || Oscar Horta writes to Brian Tomasik to cite one of his zirs articles. Horta and Tomasik agreed that wild-animal welfare was important, and Horta began to discuss it with his zirs Spanish / Latin American friends.<ref name="howistarted" />
|-
| 2009 || {{dts|April}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Do Bugs Feel Pain?".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Tomasik |first1=Brian |title=Do Bugs Feel Pain? |url=http://reducing-suffering.org/do-bugs-feel-pain/ |website=Essays on Reducing Suffering |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705034003/http://reducing-suffering.org/do-bugs-feel-pain/ |archivedate=2018-07-05 |deadurl=no |date=April 2009}}</ref>
| 2009 || {{dts|June 4}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "Caring about Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|url=http://reducing-suffering.org/caring-about-animal-suffering/|title=Caring about Animal Suffering|date=4 June 2009|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171206162913/http://reducing-suffering.org:80/caring-about-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2017-12-06|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2009 || {{dts|July}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik writes the first version of his zirs article "The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web|website=Foundational Research Institute|url=https://foundational-research.org/the-importance-of-wild-animal-suffering/|first1=Brian|last1=Tomasik|title=The Importance of Wild-Animal Suffering|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180705014223/https://foundational-research.org/the-importance-of-wild-animal-suffering/|date=July 2009|archivedate=2018-07-05|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2009 || || Publication || David Pearce publishes "Reprogramming Predators".<ref>https://www.hedweb.com/abolitionist-project/reprogramming-predators.html</ref> The post receives criticism from ScienceBlogs.<ref>http://scienceblogs.com/tetrapodzoology/2009/08/28/predatory-animals-are-bad/</ref>
| 2010 || {{dts|September 15}} || Project || The domain name animal-ethics.org is registered.<ref>https://whois.domaintools.com/animal-ethics.org</ref>
|-
| 2010 || {{dts|September 19}} || Publication || Jeff McMahan's piece "The Meat Eaters" is published in the New York Times.<ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=The Meat Eaters|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053103/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/19/the-meat-eaters/?_r=0<!--https://archive.is/39aR9-->|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=McMahan|first=Jeff|title=Predators: A Response|url=https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/?_r=0|newspaper=The New York Times|date=September 28, 2010|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716053311/https://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/28/predators-a-response/?_r=0<!--https://archive.is/zOZBC-->|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref> He Ze argues in favor of intervention in nature, and specifically reducing predation.
|-
| 2010 || || Publication || Philosopher Oscar Horta's article "Debunking the idyllic view of natural processes" is published.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Horta|first=Oscar|title=Debunking the Idyllic View of Natural Processes: Population Dynamics and Suffering in the Wild|journal=Télos|year=2010|volume=17|issue=1|pages=73–88|url=https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Horta%20-%20Debunking%20the%20idyllic%20view%20of%20natural%20processes.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716083940/https://www.stafforini.com/docs/Horta%20-%20Debunking%20the%20idyllic%20view%20of%20natural%20processes.pdf|archivedate=2018-07-16|deadurl=no}}</ref>
| 2016 || {{dts|February}} || Publication || Brian Tomasik publishes "How Painful Is Death from Starvation or Dehydration?".
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|March 15}} || Publication || Catia Faria submits her zir PhD thesis "Animal Ethics Goes Wild: The Problem of Wild Animal Suffering and Intervention in Nature".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Faria |first1=Catia |title=Animal ethics goes wild: the problem of wild animal suffering and intervention in nature |date=2016-03-15 |publisher=Universitat Pompeu Fabra |url=https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/385919<!--PDF: https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/385919/tcf.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y--> |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616130628/https://www.tdx.cat/handle/10803/385919<!--https://web.archive.org/web/20180716085310/https://www.tdx.cat/bitstream/handle/10803/385919/tcf.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y, http://www.webcitation.org/713vMYllk (download)--> |archivedate=2018-06-16 |deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|March 20}} || Publication || Magnus Vinding publishes the e-book "The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Alone, and the Theoretical Case for “Wildlife Anti-Natalism”".<ref>{{cite book|title=The Speciesism of Leaving Nature Alone, and the Theoretical Case for “Wildlife Anti-Natalism”|first1=Magnus|last1=Vinding|date=March 20, 2016|publisher=Smashwords|url=https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/624122|archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/715bJLXWP|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|March 23}} || Project || Animal Ethics announces that none of the submissions to its Essay Prize met the standards they expected, and the prize was not awarded. However, they gave a $1,500 grant to the author of the best paper, Meera Inglis from the Department of Politics of the University of Sheffield, to continue her zir research on invasive species.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcement-regarding-the-animal-ethics-essay-prize/|website=Animal Ethics|date=23 March 2016|title=Announcement regarding the Animal Ethics Essay Prize|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180721050403/https://www.animal-ethics.org/announcement-regarding-the-animal-ethics-essay-prize/<!--https://archive.fo/6bIUy-->|archivedate=2018-07-21|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|April 22}} || Publication || Michael Dickens publishes the blog post "The Myth that Reducing Wild Animal Suffering Is Intractable".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickens |first1=Michael |title=The Myth that Reducing Wild Animal Suffering Is Intractable |url=https://mdickens.me/2016/04/22/the_myth_that_reducing_wild_animal_suffering_is_intractable/ |website=Philosophical Multicore |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622125415/https://mdickens.me/2016/04/22/the_myth_that_reducing_wild_animal_suffering_is_intractable/<!--https://archive.is/8aZzr, http://www.webcitation.org/713vVdHG9--> |archivedate=2018-06-22 |deadurl=no |date=April 22, 2016}}</ref>
| 2016 || {{dts|August 25}} || Publication || Michael Dickens publishes the blog post "Why the Open Philanthropy Project Should Prioritize Wild Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dickens |first1=Michael |title=Why the Open Philanthropy Project Should Prioritize Wild Animal Suffering |url=http://effective-altruism.com/ea/10t/why_the_open_philanthropy_project_should/<!--https://mdickens.me/2016/08/25/why_the_open_philanthropy_project_should_prioritize_wild_animal_suffering/--> |website=Effective Altruism Forum |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716061454/http://effective-altruism.com/ea/10t/why_the_open_philanthropy_project_should/<!--https://web.archive.org/web/20180622125500/https://mdickens.me/2016/08/25/why_the_open_philanthropy_project_should_prioritize_wild_animal_suffering/, https://archive.is/cisBJ, https://archive.is/bywFo--> |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en |date=August 26, 2016}}</ref>
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|September 1}} || Publication || Phillipp Ryf submits his zirs Master's Thesis "Environmental Ethics: The Case of Wild Animals".<ref>http://www.academia.edu/28500092/Environmental_Ethics_The_Case_of_Wild_Animals</ref>
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|September 5}} || Publication || Animal Charity Evaluators publishes the results of an exploratory (n=612) Mechanical Turk study. The study is about the effects of vegan advocacy on attitudes towards wild-animal suffering. ACE claims that the results suggest that environmental messaging makes people less supportive of intervention. On the other hand, the post assuages WAS advocates' concerns that animal rights messaging does so.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/wild-animal-suffering-survey-report/|first1=Luke|last1=Hecht|title=Wild Animal Suffering Survey Report|website=Animal Charity Evaluators|date=September 5, 2016|quote=This study provides some evidence that encouraging people to reduce their consumption of animal products on environmental grounds makes them less supportive of intervening in nature to alleviate wild-animal suffering. If true, this suggests that animal advocates who are concerned about wild animals should place less emphasis on the environmental harms of animal agriculture. The results should reduce concerns that cruelty-focused farmed animal advocacy messages may reduce people’s willingness to help wild animals.|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722013227/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/wild-animal-suffering-survey-report/|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>
| 2016 || {{dts|November 19}} || Project || Animal Ethics announces its second Essay Prize on suffering in nature and intervention, with a reward of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=2nd Animal Ethics Essay Prize on Animal Suffering in the Wild |url=https://www.animal-ethics.org/2nd-essay-prize/ |website=Animal Ethics |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716080018/https://www.animal-ethics.org/2nd-essay-prize/<!--https://archive.is/rWnL8--> | archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |date=19 November 2016}}</ref>
|-
| 2016 || {{dts|November 25}} || Publication || Michael Plant writes a blog post critiquing arguments for the claim that wild animals experience net suffering.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Plant|first1=Michael|title=The Unproven (And Unprovable) Case For Wild Animal Suffering – Planting Happiness|url=https://www.plantinghappiness.co.uk/the-unproven-and-unprovable-case-for-wild-animal-suffering/|website=www.plantinghappiness.co.uk|date=25 November 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171109005703/https://www.plantinghappiness.co.uk/the-unproven-and-unprovable-case-for-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2017-11-09|deadurl=no}}</ref> Brian Tomasik responds on his zirs blog.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Tomasik|first1=Brian|title=Is There Net Suffering in Nature? A Reply to Michael Plant {{!}} Essays on Reducing Suffering|url=https://reducing-suffering.org/net-suffering-nature-reply-michael-plant/|website=Essays on Reducing Suffering|date=28 November 2016|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180622134433/https://reducing-suffering.org/net-suffering-nature-reply-michael-plant/|archivedate=2018-06-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2017 || {{dts|April 5}} || Publication || Animal Charity Evaluators publishes another survey on animal advocacy messaging and attitudes towards wild-animal suffering.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/effects-of-farmed-animal-advocacy-messaging-on-attitudes-towards-policies-and-decisions-affecting-wild-animal-suffering/|first1=Kieran|last1=Greig|title=Effects of farmed animal advocacy messaging on attitudes towards policies and decisions affecting wild animal suffering|date=April 5, 2017|website=Animal Charity Evaluators|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722014714/https://animalcharityevaluators.org/blog/effects-of-farmed-animal-advocacy-messaging-on-attitudes-towards-policies-and-decisions-affecting-wild-animal-suffering/|archivedate=2018-07-22|deadurl=no}}</ref>
| 2017 || {{dts|April 26}} || Project || Utility Farm announces its 2017 essay contest with a top prize of $1,500.<ref>{{cite web |title=Utility Farm has launched its 2017 essay contest |url=https://www.facebook.com/utilityfarm/posts/185977225255869 |website=Facebook |author1=Utility Farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716071130/https://m.facebook.com/utilityfarm/posts/185977225255869 |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no |language=en |date=April 26, 2017}}</ref> The contest received no quality submissions, and the prize was not awarded.<ref>{{cite web |title=2017 essay contest |url=https://www.utility.farm/prize |website=utility farm |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20180716070800/https://www.utility.farm/prize |archivedate=2018-07-16 |deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2017 || {{dts|April}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard of Open Philanthropy Project allocates $30K from the animal welfare EA Fund to the Effective Altruism Foundation's research of wild-animal suffering, stating that he ze is impressed with their work but is unsure how tractable it will be. He Ze also cites internal changes at EAF that left WAS research with no funding.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=April 2017: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/tI97LtH5AsIkgUa2IMCKi|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=April 2017}}</ref>
|-
| 2017 || {{dts|May 3}} || Community || Evan Gaensbauer creates the Facebook group "Wild Animal Welfare Project Discussion" as part of a larger attempt to build networks for new EA causes.<ref>{{cite web |title=Wild Animal Welfare Project Discussion |url=https://www.facebook.com/groups/wildanimalwelfareprojectdiscussion/ |website=Facebook |accessdate=16 July 2018}}</ref>
| 2018 || {{dts|June 10}} || Presentation || EA Global 2018 takes place in San Francisco. Persis Eskander of WASR gives a talk about "Crucial Considerations in Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |title=Crucial Considerations in Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/249916 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl=https://archive.is/I7vSM |archivedate=2018-07-12 |date=June 9, 2018}}</ref> Ozy Brennan (WASR), Persis Eskander (WASR), Kieran Greig (ACE), and Abraham Rowe (Utility Farm) participate in a panel on "Strategic Movement Building for Wild-Animal Suffering".<ref>{{cite web |title=Strategic Movement Building for Wild-Animal Suffering |url=https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/249944 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl= https://archive.is/yfXkV |archivedate=2018-06-10 |date=June 10, 2018}}</ref> There is also a meetup for people interested in the topic.<ref>{{cite web |title=Meetup: Wild Animal Suffering |url= https://sf.eaglobal.org/agenda/session/250302 |website=EA Global San Francisco 2018 |archiveurl= https://archive.is/YuJSZ |archivedate=2018-06-10 |date=June 10, 2018}}</ref>
|-
|| 2018 || {{dts|June}} || Funding || Lewis Bollard allocates $70K to Animal Ethics, $40K to Utility Farm, and $30K to Wild-Animal Suffering Research via the EA Funds. He Ze notes that all three organizations have converged around the strategy of building an academic field of wild-animal suffering, but have different approaches.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Bollard|first1=Lewis|title=June 2018: Animal Welfare Fund Update|url=https://docs.google.com/document/d/1nTS2AEOLkuQEmEQ5ePa7opt9eoN_utvWvXPbFGJL90s|website=Effective Altruism Funds|publisher=Centre for Effective Altruism|language=en|date=June 2018|archiveurl=https://archive.is/6YMLA<!--http://www.webcitation.org/713qg9zKB-->|archivedate=2018-07-20|quote=Potential interventions to aid wild animals remain limited, and may be unwise, so I think it makes sense to build an academic field that can better research this problem and potential approaches to addressing it. The three primary groups in this space have all converged around the academic field-building strategy, though they have different approaches. Given the magnitude of the problem, my uncertainty over which approach is likely to be most effective, and my sense that all three groups are well-run, I’m proposing funding all three.|deadurl=no}}</ref>
|-
| 2018 || {{dts|December 30}} || Funding || The EA Animal Welfare Fund management team (Lewis Bollard, Natalie Cargill, Toni Adleberg, and Jamie Spurgeon) grants $20,000 from the EA Animal Welfare Fund to Utility Farm. Also, they grant $75,000 to Rethink Priorities, whose research agenda within animal welfare includes assessment of work on wild animal welfare.<ref>{{cite web|url = https://app.effectivealtruism.org/funds/animal-welfare/payouts/2uyvubn8KUCoqOQS6A4ayW|title = Payout Report: Animal Welfare Fund. December 2018 - Animal Welfare Fund Grants|quote = Researching tractable interventions to improve wild animal welfare. Within the animal advocacy movement, there seems to be an increasing interest in helping wild animals, but research on effective interventions is severely lacking. Utility Farm is a research organization that takes a practical approach, prioritizing the research of potentially tractable interventions. For example, they published a report on humane insecticides and they are currently research interventions to reduce the suffering of birds and small mammals caused by feral and free-ranging cats. We believe that research on wild animal welfare is both important and relatively neglected, so we are happy to support it where we can.|date = December 30, 2018|accessdate = March 29, 2019|publisher = Effective Altruism Funds}}</ref>
289
edits

Navigation menu