This is the first book to explore farmed insect welfare; specifically, the welfare of the trillions of insects reared for food and feed. If there is a realistic possibility that they are sentient, then it is important to investigate their welfare. Insect Livestock provides a survey of the science of insect sentience, exploring the surprisingly rich evidence for pain in these animals, and introduces readers to the task of assessing insect welfare. The authors then delve into the welfare of three prominent farmed species: crickets, mealworms and black soldier flies.
The book considers realistic reforms and concludes by identifying future directions for insect welfare science, the insect industry itself, and the relationship between them. Emphasizing throughout that farmed insects are farmed animals, the authors demonstrate that welfare science is already equipped for the challenges that insects pose. The welfare assessment frameworks that we use to understand chickens and pigs can and should be extended to yellow mealworms and crickets.
Written for the community of academics and practitioners who want to understand how best to improve the welfare of the insects we rear, Insect Livestock is accessible for everybody from the student of animal welfare science to the professional in the food and feed industry.