This is part 17 of a series; part 16 is here.
I think that a constitution should address the welfare of animals in general, not just humans. But rather than attempt to enumerate the various acts of animal cruelty that should be illegal, I think it's more effective to have a law that provides the public with accurate information about how animals are being treated. Armed with this information, consumers could choose not to buy certain products, which in the end is probably the most powerful agent of change.
Here's the law I propose:
"The public has the right to observe any acts that closely confine animals, cause them suffering, or bring them death"
As stated, this law would guarantee the right to observe conditions in jails, slaughter houses, farms and laboratories. The most convenient and effective form of observation would be realtime video access via webcams.
On a related note, I've often thought that children should be shown slaughter houses around the age of 16 so that they have a clear idea of how animals are killed for food. Practically speaking, I think most children would continue to eat meat, but perhaps they would be more thoughtful about which products they purchased and how much meat they consumed.
Coincidentally, there's a great article in New Scientist magazine this month that shows that it's virtually impossible these days to get access to slaughter house conditions. I find this very disturbing, especially where there are videos like this one that show horrific scenes of cows being accidentally mutilated and then wandering around with their guts hanging out while workers calmly go about their business. A simple transparency law as I've described would go a long way to preventing this kind of animal abuse.
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