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Veterinärmedizinische Universität Wien

When interests collide - Stakeholder engagement in mediating human-animal conflict situations

In a society in which humans and non-human animals (hereinafter referred to as animals) live together, challenges can arise in balancing interests (e.g., life, good welfare or prosperity and a safe and healthy living environment) of both humans and animals. This can be the case when humans keep and use animals or when humans and animals enter each other's habitat or living space. Conflicts can arise when interests of humans and animals collide. Or when animals end up in the middle of a conflict between humans.

In various examples from practice, in turns that animals often come out on the losing end and regularly pay for it with death. Think, for example, of brown rats in a residential area or on a pig farm. It is still common practice to control rats with lethal methods that have a significant impact on animal welfare. In this case the interests of rats (living, reproduction, freedom from pain, good welfare) collide with human interests (a safe and healthy environment, preventing economic losses or material damage). Another example is when a farmer and/or veterinarian decide about the slaughter of a lame dairy cow or the housing conditions in relation to tail docking of pigs.

But can these decisions be taken differently? Can we resolve the conflicts of interests in such a way that it is acceptable for both humans and animals? In other words: how to deal with these conflicts through mediation? And what role can professionals, such as veterinarians and ethicists, play?

In this workshop participants are challenged to put themselves in the shoes of different stakeholders (including the animal) and from there start a dialogue with each other to prevent or mediate human-animal conflicts. An assessment framework and example cases from practice are used to go through this process. Understanding people better and acknowledging the intrinsic value of animals are the firsts steps for the improvement of animal welfare and the mediation of conflicts between the interests of humans and animals.

Questions that will be addressed during the workshop using practical examples are:

  1. What are the principles of mediation?
  2. How can these principles be used in the case of human-animal conflict mediation?
  3. Who is part of the mediation?
  4. How to involve the animal in mediation?
  5. How can decision frames or ethical matrices be used in mediation?

Max. Number of Participants:

25

Maite van Gerwen

Organizer

Maite van Gerwen

With a background in Animal Sciences and post academic education in Human Behavior Change Maite focuses on improving animal welfare and mediating human-animal conflicts. She does so with her own consultancy company Animo Animalis and as director of CAS International, an NGO committed to end bullfighting and other cultural events that cause animal suffering. As a PhD Candidate at Utrecht University’s faculty of Veterinary Medicine she works on the development of an assessment framework for an ethical management of rodents in the context of pest control.

Earlier in her career Maite worked for the Dutch Party for the Animals, the Dutch Society for the Protection of Animals and the Centre for Sustainable Animal Stewardship (CenSAS). With CenSAS she worked for more than 6 years on multi-stakeholder projects and the annual CenSAS animal dialogue. Furthermore, she was a member of the youth network of the Dutch Council on Animal Affairs.

Maite has a broad interest in animal welfare, human-animal relations and the engagement of stakeholders. According to her, understanding people better and acknowledging the intrinsic value of animals are the firsts steps for the improvement of animal welfare and the mediation of conflicts between the interests of humans and animals.

In the workshop Maite challenges participants to put themselves in the shoes of different stakeholders and from there start a dialogue with each other to prevent or resolve human-animal conflicts in an animal-friendly way. An assessment framework and example cases from practice are used to go through this process.

 

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