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Summary

Animals are everywhere, even in highly urbanized areas! Some may be domesticated (like cats and dogs), but others are not and live with us and sometimes even off us: pigeons, coypu, sparrows, foxes, surmulots, etc. As they are not protected species or domesticated, they are not necessarily protected by law. They are even sometimes considered as “harmful” (although French law no longer uses the term and refers instead to “animals likely to cause damage”). Because urban animals are often seen as undesirable, especially when their population is high, cities implement campaigns to reduce their numbers (recuperation of stray cats, gassing of pigeons, poisoning of surmulots, trapping of foxes or coypu, etc.).

This competition for space between humans and animals in cities, and the question of how to take their welfare into account when managing their populations, is an increasingly debated issue, and one that research is taking up. We interviewed Ciska De Ruyver, a researcher in animal ethics, who is currently leading a research project on urban animals, focusing on foxes, cats, dogs and pigeons. She stresses the need to make city-dwellers more aware of the presence and behavior of urban animals, so as to ensure a better cohabitation.

In this project, we base ourselves on the animals’ point of view, not on what we, as humans, consider to be a good way of living together. [avec eux]

CISKA DE RUYVER

In this video:

  • 0:10 : Please introduce yourself
  • 0:37 : How would you define animal welfare?
  • 0:58: Do we have to take care of all urban animals?
  • 1:23 : In your opinion, do we need to raise public awareness?
  • 1:56 : How to improve urban animal welfare?
  • 2:35 : So what can be done in practice?

keep in mind

In this project, we base ourselves on the animals’ point of view, not on what we, as humans, consider to be a good way of living together. [avec eux]

CISKA DE RUYVER