From the pets we love to the animals we rarely see, our relationship with non-human life is full of contradictions. In this episode, we explore what it really means to protect animals and whether welfare is enough, or if rights are the way forward.

Beginning with a simple question inspired by my own dog, Pip, this episode moves from the personal to the global. Through conversations with experts including Jeff Sebo, Jonathan Birch, Jo-Anne McArthur and Carrie Friese, we examine how ideas about sentience, law, and ethics are shaping the future of animal protection.

In this episode of LSE iQ, Mike Wilkerson asks: Should animals have rights?

Jonathan Birch, Director of the Jeremy Collier Centre, LSE

“What we need, I think, at minimum, is to see really egregiously cruel practices like dropping crabs and lobsters into pans of boiling water, banned in a really clear, unambiguous way.

I think there should be a first step to much more detailed, meaningful guidance on how to treat them.”

Jeff Sebo, Associate Professor of Environmental Studies, NYU

“And if all we aspire to do is protect animal welfare and ensure humane, compassionate treatment of animals, then people will conveniently interpret that in ways that are compatible with ongoing exploitation of animals for food and research and other human purposes.”

Jo-Anne McArthur, Photographer, Founder of We Animals

“I see animal photojournalism as a piece of the puzzle. It's an essential contribution to what animal advocacy as a whole is doing.

We need to see. We need the law. We need the research. We need the grassroots. We need the people pounding the pavement, talking to people, educating people. We need the humane educators and and all of these are vital components.”