A Sentience Article from All-Creatures.org

It’s Time To Stop Wondering if Animals Are Sentient—They Are

From Marc Bekoff, Psychology Today / Animal Emotions
June 2022

Animal sentience isn’t science fiction. It’s not anti-science to say we must use what we know on behalf of other animals and must stop pretending we need more data.

Image from Vegan-Supermarket.uk

An essay titled "Animal sentience: history, science, and politics" by Andrew Rowan and his colleagues is an excellent state-of-the-art summary of what we know and don’t know about sentience in nonhuman animals (animals). Nonetheless, I would have liked to see a bit more coverage of the ethological literature and consideration of what is called “positive emotions,” as in the work of Jonathan Balcombe on pleasure.

It always amazes me that some people, typically academics, are quick to acknowledge that nonhumans feel certain negative emotions but remain agnostic about, or reject the possibility of, whether they also feel positive emotions. How could they not, given what we know about animal sentience and animal behavior?

It's clear we know that numerous animals other than ourselves are sentient beings, and a shift in attitudes is in progress. Given what we know about animal sentience, it's time for more action—to use what we know on behalf of other animals.

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Please read the ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE.

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