
Animal Sentience
Uncovering complex lives through animal sentience research
People often disregard the importance of an animal’s feelings or dismiss them as being subjective and too hard to understand or measure. This is simply not the case. Scientific knowledge of animal sentience has grown considerably in the past 20 years.
People often disregard the importance of an animal’s feelings or dismiss them as being subjective and too hard to understand or measure. This is simply not the case. Scientific knowledge of animal sentience has grown considerably in the past 20 years.
Scientists now have a whole range of tools to measure and understand the emotional lives of animals, and these can be used to ensure that animals have the lives they deserve. For example, we can tell a lot about how animals feel from their body postures and behaviour. Neuroscience shows us how some species have developed different brain structures for processing emotions like pain, fear, and joy.
The science of animal sentience is also uncovering the remarkable abilities of different species. Scientists keep learning just how complex the emotional lives of animals are.
Feeling beings: the power of animal sentience law
Understanding how animals can suffer and what emotions they experience is instrumental in improving their welfare and the legislation and practices affecting them. Policies and laws must consider animals as individuals, whose needs and welfare need to be protected.
Recognising animals as sentient in legislation demonstrates that a country values the intrinsic value and wellbeing of animals. It defines animals as feeling beings, who are capable of pain and suffering, but also of positive states such as pleasure and joy.
This sets an important standard for how animals should be treated, shapes attitudes and behaviours and sends a clear message to citizens. Enshrining sentience in legislation takes a country one step closer to ensuring that animals have the lives they deserve.
The future for sentience science and animal welfare
The future of animal sentience science is exciting and brilliant. Never has there been such enthusiasm and drive to learn about what animals think and feel. World Animal Protection will continue to promote this area of science and showcase the growing body of research that demonstrates the diverse nature of the emotional lives of animals.
In our work to end factory farming, we will keep using the growing body of research on animal sentience to show the world that intensive systems cannot meet the needs of these complex, sentient beings who we farm in their trillions.
As we continue to campaign and work for wild animals, stakeholders will recognise the importance of protecting sentient beings from the inhumane practices commonly seen in the wildlife trade and entertainment industries.