Animal sentience

We have come a long way since the Cartesian idea that animals function as simple, soulless machines, incapable of feeling. Anybody who has ever shared their lives with an animal, such as a dog or a cat, knows that this is simply not true. Today many people, including scientists and philosophers, accept that animals are sentient beings, aware of themselves and their surroundings and able to feel sensations and emotions such as hunger, pain, happiness and fear. As we discover more about the mental and emotional capacity of animals, how we treat them must similarly evolve. If we accept animal sentience, then current factory farm practices must be considered unacceptable.

What is animal sentience?

Sentience can be defined as consciousness, awareness or feeling. For animals, this means that they experience sensations such as cold, hunger and pain; can express pleasure and preferences, and are playful; can demonstrate compassion towards others; are aware of themselves and others; and can often distinguish between different humans. Western societies readily accept dogs as having these traits; indeed our companion animals are usually considered part of the family. What a lot of people don’t realise, however, is that the behaviour and emotion we witness in dogs also extend s to other animals, including farm animals. For example, studies and observations have shown that:

• Pigs are highly intelligent and emotionally complex animals, ranking only behind dolphins and primates. They are vocal animals, and there is a courting ‘song’ between males and females, while mother pigs sing to their young when nursing.   Pigs have also been known to care for sick or disabled fellow pigs, bringing them food and bedding.
• Female chickens (hens) form a relationship with their chicks even before hatching, by turning the egg and talking (clucking) to it. In nature, chickens live in small groups of up to 30, and communicate with each other using different sounds and calls.
  
• Cows are extremely social animals who live in small herds, forming social hierarchies and friendship pairs. They communicate with each other in a number of ways, with different ‘calls’ to indicate, for example, excitement, frustration, interest, pleasure or stress. Calls may also be used to locate companions following separation.
  
• Sheep can remember up to 50 individual faces and retain memories associated with those specific faces for several years. Lambs, one of the most playful of all animals, including dogs, invite other lambs to play by leaping vertically into the air.

Why does sentience matter?

Animals in factory farms experience institutionalised suffering – that is, things that would arguably be illegal if they were performed on companion animals such as dogs and cats, but which are permitted under Australian law to be done to farm animals. Some of these things include:

• Calves being castrated and dehorned.
• Pigs living in isolation in concrete ‘sow stalls’, usually artificially impregnated and kept in near-perpetual pregnancy.
• Hens living in cages so small they cannot spread their wings or turn around, and having parts of their beaks cut off without anaesthetic.

These things would even be considered morally and ethically unacceptable if they were done to a cat or dog. So what’s different about farm animals? Nothing; except our understanding and empathy.

What does this mean for me?

Animal sentience and their capacity to experience physical and psychological pain is well documented (see our recommended reading list for scientific studies). However, unless people become aware of both animal sentience and factory farming practices, nothing is likely to change. There are some ways you can help:

• Learn more about animal sentience by looking at the resources listed below.
• Learn more about factory farming practices (see the resources page on the Voiceless website).
• Talk to your friends and family about what you have learned, and encourage them to find out more for themselves.
• Consider eliminating or reducing your meat, egg and dairy consumption.

Sources and further reading

• Animal Emotions blog http://www.psychologytoday.com
• Animal Sentience blog http://www.livesofanimals.org/
• Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) animal sentience website http://www.ciwf.org.uk/
• Compassion in World Farming (CIWF) Stop- Look- Listen: recognising the sentience of farm animals (2006) http://www.ciwf.org.uk
• Francione, G., ‘Taking Sentience Seriously’ in Animals as Persons: Essays on the Abolition of Animal Exploitation (Columbia University Press, New York, 2008)
• Masson, J.M., The Pig Who Sang to the Moon: the emotional world of farm animals, (Ballantine Books, New York, 2003)
• Hatkoff, A., The Inner World of Farm Animals, (Stewart, Tabori & Chang, New York, 2009)
• Humane Education Project 2000 Introduction & Part 1 - Sentience, Politics, Law and Religion
• Sharman, K., (2008) ‘Putting the chicken before the egg; layer hen housing laws in Australia’, Australian Animal Protection Law Journal, Vol 1, Legal Bulletin Service. http://www.thenewlawyer.com.au
  
• Voiceless (2008) From Nest to Nugget: An Expose of Australian Chicken Factories
• Voiceless (2005) From Paddocks to Prisons: Pigs in NSW Current Practices, Future Directions
  
  

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