I’ve just discovered that as part of the British government’s withdrawal from the EU, it’s voted to scrap legislation that protects animals as sentient beings. Of all the laws the illegitimate Tory party could possibly repeal, I was surprised to discover that this one seems to have hit me the hardest. It’s incredulous that ministers have agreed that non-humans ‘cannot feel pain or emotions,’ stripping them of all rights and legal protection formerly provided by Europe. I wish I could force Theresa May and her cruel ilk to read the hundreds of scientific studies which clearly show the reverse- some of which I featured in an article on this topic a couple of years ago. I’ll repost it here, with a suggestion that the Tories are the only (non?) humans incapable of compassion and empathy. My dog (and my cat, and maybe even my hamster) would beat all of them hands down in any contest related to emotion. I bet your pets would, too.
Everything you think you know about animals is wrong: How science is forcing us to reconsider the twin myths of human superiority and dumb creatures
Human beings are the most intelligent of all the world´s species, that’s the narrative we tell ourselves. We deserve our superior status over other animal species because of the following scientific truths: only humans are self-aware and feel empathy; we are unique in our abilities to use language and tools; only we can recognize ourselves in a mirror and understand the passing of time.
However, advances in cognitive ethology (the scientific study of animal intelligence, emotions, behaviours, and social life) have now disproved these ´truths´, showing that many other creatures also display a complex range of emotions, highly evolved communication skills, compassion for others, and intelligence that rivals- or even surpasses- our own. These ground-breaking studies force us to ask some uncomfortable questions about our place in the world, and have caused leading experts to call for a radical rethink of the way we treat other animals.
Communicative mice, kindly rats and compassionate chickens
Among the findings are that yes, fish do feel pain , and not only that but acidic water actually makes them nervous. Chickens are not only very intelligent, they can also feel each other´s pain, and they demonstrate physiological signs of concern and distress at the suffering of their young.
Similar conclusions were drawn in a cruel study of mice who were doused in acid. Not only were the empathic rodents more sensitive to the pain of their peers than to their own agony, but researchers also suggested they “might be talking to each other” about their pain, too. Take a moment to let that sink in….
And while rats don´t have the best of reputations, there is much research to suggest they too are compassionate, communicative and highly intelligent. One group of scientists found that, given the choice, rats prefer to free others from a cage rather than help themselves to candy. What´s more, the rats had not been taught to open the cages in advance. Researcher Peggy Mason noted: “That was very compelling … It said to us that essentially helping their cagemate is on a par with chocolate. He can hog the entire chocolate stash if he wanted to, and he does not. We were shocked.”
Continue reading “The Tories may be devoid of emotion, but animals certainly aren’t”
Sophie McAdam 