Beliefs About Chickens And Fish and Their Relation To Animal-Positive Behaviors
An Animal Rights Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Faunalytics
November 2020

Small-bodied animals like chickens and fish are killed in massive numbers. This Faunalytics study looks at the general public's beliefs about these animals, and what those beliefs mean for advocacy.

Small-bodied animals like chickens and fish are killed in massive numbers. This Faunalytics study looks at the general public's beliefs about these animals, and what those beliefs mean for advocacy.

Tom Beggs
Background

Animals used for food generally receive significantly less attention and funding than companion animals (Faunalytics, 2019). Small-bodied animals like chickens and fish are killed in particularly massive numbers—there are over 200 times more chickens killed each year than cows, and over 3,000 times more fish killed than cows (Faunalytics, 2020; Sentient Media, 2018; The Economist, 2011).

Several reasons for this relative neglect have been proposed. Generally, these small-bodied animals are viewed as less intelligent and less “like us” (Batt, 2009). For example, chickens lay eggs, as do most fish. Chickens have beaks. Fish don’t breathe air. These differences are thought to make the suffering of these animals seem more distant from our own, and therefore make care and empathy for them less likely.

The current study was created to help answer important questions regarding these animals: which beliefs do the public have about small-bodied animals, and which of these are associated with animal-positive behaviors? Specifically, we looked at how a number of beliefs related to both a willingness to sign a petition to reduce the suffering of each animal and a diet pledge to reduce the consumption of each. We believe that by answering these questions, advocacy efforts can become more targeted and effective.

That said, this is just the first step in our program of research dedicated to Reducing Fish and Chicken Suffering. We will build on these preliminary results and see if they can be used to help animals. For example, future studies may investigate whether we can shift any of these beliefs in order to help small-bodied animals.

Read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE (PDF): Beliefs About Chickens And Fish & Their Relation To Animal-Positive Behaviors 

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