I am writing about decision making when allocating charity resources, and I need a bit of background on deciding between improving lots of lives for animals with, let's say, average welfare (that needs to be improved, but they're not in dire straights) versus a small number of animals with severe welfare needs.
Are there any theories / authors, etc etc, that discuss this topic? I've found bits on 'are the needs of many equal to the needs of the few', but nothing peer reviewed, and nothing that covers the angle of differences in the number of animals reached. Would this be a form of utilitarianism?? (showing my ignorance here, I'm not a philosopher!!)
So, I'm not after an answer as such, more a direction to some literature!
Many thanks