Can A Snail Suffer?
A Sentience Article from All-Creatures.org

FROM Faunalytics.org
September 2021

Does consciousness exist on a continuum, or is there a clear dividing line? If there is a state of partial consciousness or sentience, who much is enough for a species to be considered worthy of moral consideration?

Snail
Photo by Wolfgang Hasselmann on Unsplash

Most of us are familiar with clams, oysters, and snails. If we are veg*n, we may decline to eat them, but we probably don’t give much thought to their life experience. Indeed, the concept of life experience for a clam or snail might seem laughable.

However, along with other mollusks such as scallops and mussels, they are eaten in large numbers by humans. Sometimes they are eaten raw, and other times they are steamed alive in their shells. Snails are starved and then boiled alive. In addition, researchers use them in toxicology testing, while cosmetic and personal care companies “milk” snails for their mucus, which kills the snail through dehydration.

Obviously, to do these things to sentient creatures is reprehensible. But whether bivalves and snails are sentient is not clear scientifically. Part of the problem is that science still doesn’t define “sentience” or “consciousness”. How does it arise? What are the minimum criteria?

Does consciousness exist on a continuum, or is there a clear dividing line? If there is a state of partial consciousness or sentience, who much is enough for a species to be considered worthy of moral consideration?

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE: Can A Snail Suffer? 


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