“Should we consider the welfare of small soil animals? On the special relativity of welfare” by Stijn Bruers 🔸

There are interesting discussions on the Effective Altruism Forum concerning the welfare of the smallest but most abundant animals: Should we consider effects on soil nematodes, mites, and springtails? And does animal farming impact soil nematodes, mites, and springtails hugely more than directly affected animals? If tiny soil animals such as nematodes have on average a negative welfare overall, even if that level of suffering is small, the numbers of those animals are so large that the total suffering of all soil animals could easily be larger than the total suffering of for example farmed animals. In agricultural land, there are much less nematodes than in natural habitats, such as forests. Animal farming increases agricultural land and hence strongly decreases the populations of soil animals on earth. If there are fewer soil animals, there is less soil animal suffering. Could the decrease in suffering of soil animals be [...] --- First published: July 22nd, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/udcCBBwGnCneLRjkH/should-we-consider-the-welfare-of-small-soil-animals-on-the --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.