: Early Western thought often viewed animals as "automata" or machines without souls, a view championed by René Descartes . However, thinkers like Jeremy Bentham challenged this, famously asking not "Can they reason?" but "Can they suffer?".

Animal welfare is, in essence, a utilitarian and compassionate approach to animal husbandry. It operates on the premise that humans have a moral responsibility to treat animals humanely, but it does not challenge the underlying assumption that animals are resources for human use. The focus of animal welfare is on minimizing suffering and ensuring a "good life" for animals while they are under human control.