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If you look at
nothing else on this website please do click this link
and watch the film about emotion in farm animals:
The Emotional World of Farm Animals
This is an
amazing film that will reveal a side of farm animals of
which few people are aware.
Until he extends the circle of his compassion to all
living things, man will not himself find peace.
Albert Schweitzer
The old assumption that animals acted exclusively by
instinct, while man had a monopoly of reason, is, we
think, maintained by few people nowadays who have any
knowledge at all about animals. We can only wonder that
so absurd a theory could have been held for so long a
time as it was, when on all sides the evidence if
animals' power of reasoning is crushing.
Ernest Bell (1851-1933)
Sentience
in Farm Animals
Introduction
The soul is the same in all
living creatures, although the body of each is
different.
Hippocrates
In any endeavour to gain rights for animals is the need
for recognition that animals are sentient creatures,
aware of themselves, others of their kind and other
species, aware of sensations in their bodies, along with the
capacity to experience negative and positive
emotions, both pleasure and sorrow, and the ability
to experience both a state of pain and that of well
being, capable of suffering
both physically and psychologically.
The question is
not, Can they reason? nor Can they talk? but Can they
suffer?’
Jeremy Bentham
It is my view that whether sentient or otherwise we have
no right to interfere with the lives of animals, to
exploit or abuse them in anyway. Nonetheless the cause
of animal rights is enhanced if we can establish that an
animal is sentient.
Because one
species is more clever than another, does it give it the
right to imprison or torture the less clever species?
Does one exceptionally clever individual have a right to
exploit the less clever individuals of his own species?
To say that he does is to say with the Fascists that the
strong have a right to abuse and exploit the weak -
might is right, and the strong and ruthless shall
inherit the earth.
Richard Ryder
I think few people believe that animals, if they really consider animals at
all, live their lives totally
automated by instinct. It would not be possible to
interact with your environment without some degrees of
awareness, intellect and an ability to think, to reason
and analyse each situation as it arises and to act
accordingly. All animals have some degree of instinct,
yes even humans, but in addition there is sentience,
conscious awareness, no creature is an automaton.
Often when challenged those in favour of farming and
other exploitative practices often justify such by
saying that animals have no feelings and that they are
not aware, that they lack sentience. Such arguments in light of recent research now stand on extremely shaky ground.
Scientists are finding compelling evidence to indicate
sentience in animals, however until recently most of the
research into this possibility was not carried out on
farm animals but upon primates and dolphins and other
animals, so called higher animals, commonly considered as
intelligent. There are definite indicators of sentience
in the aforementioned animals, such as self awareness,
the awareness of others, intelligence and the ability to
communicate and to experience a range of emotions, to name just a few of the more well known
indicators of sentience. Most people are particularly
aware of the intelligence of dolphins concerning these
abilities, whales also display a similar capability and
it is clearly obvious that this applies to primates, our
nearest relatives.
Sadly such research is only just being carried out on
farm animals. I would imagine that this is due to the
fact that the industries which exploit animals for food,
clothing and so on would really rather it not be known
that these creatures regarded as resources are thinking,
feeling, intelligent beings, who are aware, sentient.
It is my belief that all creatures are sentient, all
animals to include both vertebrates, (animals with a
backbone and internal skeleton), and invertebrates,
(animals without a backbone and an external skeleton, for
example insects), the later of which sadly few consider
sentient. I consider and always have that yes insects,
arachnids and other invertebrates are sentient, and in
time I will include information about them also. Indeed I have never considered otherwise that
animals where not sentient, aware as are we, it has
never occurred to me that animals have no feelings or
emotions. Sentience in animals, including farm animals,
to my mind seems as obvious as rain is wet and the sun
is warm. It has in fact always shocked me when I meet
people who believe otherwise.
One of the most significant problems in assigning
sentience to other animals is that we look for a similar
type of sentience to that of our own. And if we find
there is little comparison we consider that the animal
in question is not sentient. Therefore in the
consideration of animal sentience perhaps we should
consider that maybe animal sentience is different from
our own. For instance, often people consider that
because we cannot communicate with certain creatures on
our own level of awareness, such as for instance a
reptile, that this particular creature is not sentient.
Shame on such a morality that is worthy of pariahs, and
that fails to recognize the eternal essence that exists
in every living thing, and shines forth with inscrutable
significance from all eyes that see the sun!
Artur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)
Many people, are prepared to accept that certain
mammals, but not farm animals, other than ourselves are
sentient, such as a cat or dog for instance, simply
because these creatures are aware of us and interact
with us on many levels. Reptiles and insects do not
interact with humans in the same way as mammals and this
results in many people considering that these creatures are not
sentient. However many smaller mammals, such as certain tiny
species of rodents in particular are not aware of our
existence either as their periphery of perception excludes us
other than perhaps for instance casting a shadow if we
approach them. Therefore, for all intents and purposes
it might seem that these creatures also appear to lack
sentience. Man is an arrogant creature it seems and if
another creature is not aware of his existence, man
tends to believe that, that creature lacks sentience.
For examples of sentience and how it presents in each
individual group of farm animals please click the links below.
In due course an additional category will be added discussing the
sentience of invertebrates to include insects, arachnids
and crustaceans.
Sheep
Pigs
Cattle
Poultry
Aquatic Animals
For a more in depth article
concerning animal sentience:
Sentience in
Farm and Other Animals
Here in the above linked article you may read scientific,
philosophical, personal and anecdotal evidence to
support animal sentience. Topics include subjects such
as intelligence, communication, tool making, emotions
and how they manifest in animals and sixth sense.
This is a lengthy article which
will be revised and more information added as it becomes
available.
I personally can see no reason for conceding mind to my
fellow men and denying it to animals ... I at least
cannot doubt that the interests and activities of
animals are correlated with awareness and feeling in the
same way as my own, and which may be, for aught I know,
just as vivid.
Lord (Walter Russel) Brain (1895-1966)
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