Want to know what it’s like to be a dairy cow, with an udder distended by up to 20 litres of milk? “Stick a football between your thighs,” John Webster suggests. Webster, professor of animal husbandry at the University of Bristol’s veterinary school, has written an even-handed but hard-hitting critique of modern livestock farming in Animal Welfare: A Cool Eye Towards Eden (Blackwell Science, £17.99, ISBN 0 632 03928 0). He wants to understand what it is that animals want and how they perceive their own quality of life. But he is not a farmer basher: he aims to “improve the quality of life for all sentient animals on the farm, and that includes the farmer and his or her family”.
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features
Technology
Test moderators use AI-generated writing to judge literacy standards
News
Mind
THC in cannabis may reduce nightmares in people with PTSD
News
Environment
Fishers detonate a bomb every hour on one Indonesian coral reef
News
Environment
How bad is the UK drought and how long will it continue?
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles