"People must have renounced, it seems to me, all natural intelligence to dare to advance that animals are but animated machines.... It appears to me, besides, that such people can never have observed with attention the character of animals, not to have distinguished among them the different voices of need, of suffering, of joy, of pain, of love, of anger, and of all their affections. It would be very strange that they should express so well what they could not feel" - Voltaire
Sentience is defined as the ability to feel a range of emotions and feelings.
Though sentience in people is accepted without question, sentience in animals is still widely questioned. Questions such as:
do animals experience emotions?
do they have feelings?
are still waiting to be answered to everyone's agreement.
A lot of work has been done, and is being done, to prove or disprove animal sentience.
Whether animals experience emotions, and are or are not sentient beings, is tied closely to the question of whether animals suffer.
Extensive scientific studies and animal behaviour observations give us plenty of evidence that animals do actually feel both positive and negative emotions. And that they are aware of their emotions and feelings and the consequences of their actions on others.
The world is increasingly starting to accept that animals are, in fact, sentient beings.
This means that people are starting to realise and understand that animals feel, that they experience emotions such as happiness, joy, sadness and fear, and further complex emotions like grief, empathy, resentment and even jealousy.
Studies have shown that monkeys have a conscious and non-conscious mind, like those of people.
Monkeys have been seen to "kiss and make-up" after a fight.
Chimpanzees laugh when they are playing. They grieve their dead and cry for their loss.
They have been seen to exhibit emotions of joy, anger, affection, compassion, empathy, anger, sadness and jealousy. They groom each other to maintain stable relationships and keep the peace within their group.
Elephants grieve their dead. For days. They have been seen to cry. They bury their dead and pay tribute to them. And if an elephant comes across the bones of another elephant, it will pay its respects. This can be seen by the drooping of the ears and tail and the gentle touching of the bones.
Elephants also value their families and form strong family and lifelong friendship bonds. They all play a part in bringing up their young with love and babysit each others' babies.
Cows grieve when they are separated from their babies. They have also been seen to show frustration and a sense of achievement when they have completed a task.
Rats and mice have been shown to really enjoy being tickled. They have also been seen to show empathy towards one another.
Sheep have been seen expressing feelings of happiness, anger, fear, boredom and disgust.
Studies have shown they can also recognise faces from pictures, both those they know and those they don't know. They have also been seen to look forward to treats and then be disappointed when they didn't get those treats.
Goats are known to be social and affectionate animals. They form strong bonds both with each other and people. They get depressed if they are kept away from their friends. They show empathy towards each other. They have been seen to show optimism. And they can recognise the different emotions in a human voice.
Pigs are highly intelligent and very social animals. They form strong family bonds and raise their babies with love. They have been shown to be empathetic towards other pigs. They are able to solve complex problems. They love to play. They have been seen to anticipate and prepare for an event. And they have unique personalities.
Most animals have been shown to love to play. Brain evidence of playing animals shows them enjoying playtime.
With so much scientific and animal behavioural evidence that animals have feelings, it raises a lot of painful questions about animal suffering.
Any person who loves animals, or has any regard for living beings at any level, would have to question with despondency the way most animals are still treated with so little kindness or compassion in this world.
Sadly, cruelty towards animals is still far too widespread.
Animal cruelty, or at least lack of care for animal welfare, can be seen in some forms of farming, testing on animals, at the hands of pet owners, pet breeding, animal fighting, and many other areas.
One can only hope that as more and more evidence comes to light and the world becomes more enlightened about the intelligence, beauty and sentience of animals, the younger generations and future generations to come will continue to proliferate the perception of animals as fellow beings as opposed to mere commodities. And animals will continue to increasingly be treated with more kindness, respect and compassion.
INTERESTED IN FINDING OUT MORE ABOUT ANIMAL WELFARE?
Below are some links to get you started:
“There is no fundamental difference between man and animals in their ability to feel pleasure and pain, and happiness and misery.” – Charles Darwin
“There is little that separates humans from other sentient beings. We all feel joy, we all crave to be alive and to live freely and we all share this planet together.” – Mahatma Gandhi
“The question is not ‘Can they reason?’ nor ‘Can they talk?’ but ‘Can they suffer?'” – Jeremy Bentham
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