Genetics and Animal Welfare - Genetics and the Behavior of Domestic Animals - page 456

paid by weakening another trait. In 1977, the American Livestock Breeds
Conservatory was founded to preserve rare breeds of domestic livestock and
poultry. However, some agriculturists do not see the wisdom of keeping
older and lower-producing breeds of pigs and chickens. The reason for
conserving older breeds is they retain desirable traits such as disease resis-
tance, fertility, and hardiness ( Thomas, 1995; Sponenberg, 1995 ).
The more specialized a domestic animal becomes, the more specialized
an environment it will require. A Holstein cow requires more environmental
support by humans than a beef cow. Beef cows and horses can still go feral
and survive under wild conditions. The first author has observed feral cows
on mountain ranches that were able to avoid being rounded up for up to
10 years. The Holstein milk cow, with her huge udder, would have difficulty
living under natural conditions. In addition, the first author has observed that
Holstein calves are weaker and take longer to walk through races and chutes
compared to beef-breed calves.
In the plant kingdom, corn is an example of a totally domestic plant.
It cannot grow without assistance from humans. Modern corn is radically
different from its ancestor, teosinte. Teosinte had hard kernels covered with
an inedible shell, whereas modern corn has more kernels and no hard shell
over them. Research by Jane Dorweiller at the University of Minnesota
showed that converting teosinte into modern corn involved changing just a
small stretch of DNA. Plants have been modified more by domestication
than animals.
ETHICAL QUESIONS
One may speculate, what if a farm animal breed was manipulated as much
as corn has been? Modern corn breeds look like a different species compared
to wild corn. Would it be ethical to create microcephalic cows with almost
no brain? Dr Mike Fox (1989, 1992) was the first to ask this question. If the
nervous system was modified so the mutant would not suffer, would it be
ethical? Philosophers can fight over this one.
Being practical people with years of hands-on experience with animals,
both authors agree that decisions on the ethical use of biotechnology should
be based on the concept of ethical cost. Invasive or painful experiments or
the creation of animals with chronic pain should not be done for frivolous
reasons. It may be justified to cause some pain or discomfort in an animal to
find a cure for multiple sclerosis, but it would not be morally justified to
make animals suffer in order to grow larger amounts of meat or produce a
few more kilograms of milk.
Furthermore, it is our opinion that extremely fearful or aggressive agri-
cultural animals are not acceptable from an animal welfare standpoint. We
are also very concerned about the welfare of breeding animals selected for
increased appetite. In the laboratory, genetically altered animals can provide