Pure Snow or Melt Water? Arctic-Biopolitical Interpretation of the Law on Animal Welfare

Abstract

The Animal Welfare Act entered into force on 1 January 2024. It requires that water must be constantly available to the animal in the permanent holding of mammals and birds. It remains unclear how the biopower and Arctic conditions will be taken into account in the implementation of animal needs. Needs are better achieved in intensive agriculture than in the breeding of wild animal species. The purpose of this study is to examine the Animal Welfare Act, the Animal Protection Act that preceded it, the government’s proposal for a new Animal Welfare Act, the proposal of the Finnish Association of Animal Rights Lawyers on the fundamental rights of animals, and the responses of stakeholders in the development phase of the new Animal Welfare Act in a new way with biopower and the Arctic region. Text materials are analysed using discourse analytical methods, thereby revealing the discourses of care, nature, water access, and cold. The study applies the concept of biopower to other species and reveals differences in the approach to the needs of different animal species and tells about perceptions related to the good life of animals.