Animal Business: An Exploration of Corporate Responsibility Towards Animals

Abstract

Using insights from business ethics and animal ethics, this article argues that companies have a responsibility towards animals. It argues that animals have a moral status, that moral actors have the moral obligation to take the interests of animals into account and thus, that as moral actors, companies should take the interests of animals into account, more specifically their current and future welfare. Based on this corporate responsibility, critical reflection is offered on various categories of corporate impact on animals in terms of welfare and longevity, leading to normative implications for each of them. The article concludes with managerial implications. It contributes to the field of business ethics by taking animal welfare from a blind spot into the spotlight, and thus connecting the fields of business ethics and animal ethics.

Keywords: CSR, CR, animal ethics, animal welfare, business ethics, moral status, sentience, production processes, society

JEL Classification: Q1, Q18