Oostvaardersplassen: the setting for an animal welfare balance

About ethics, health, welfare and legal issues "Oostvaardersplassen: the setting for "Good times, bad times, an animal welfare balance".

There is no such thing as a life without suffering, without pain, without decay. Not for humans, and not in nature! Reading the reactions on news paper weblogs and in the daily newspapers about what people think of nature in the Netherlands, and in particular about the large, cuddly (or not) animals, you see a lot of love for the individual animal, but are struck by the fact that so few contributors talk about animals at population level, and about their role in the ecosystem, the landscape. This is understandable; after all, it is complicated.

Of course, one should - especially from the moral point of view - try to prevent unnecessary suffering and unacceptable pain, and ensure that an animal can lead a "happy" life. But can this be done without death, and how can you make dying a process free of suffering, pain, decay? This is not possible, not for people and not for animals.

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