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, and therefore important, of all the world´s species, right? We deserve our superior status over other animals because of the following scientific truths: that only humans are self-aware and feel empathy, that we are unique in our abilities to use language and tools, that only we can recognize ourselves in a mirror and understand the passing of time.

But advances in cognitive ethology (the scientific study of animal intelligence, emotions, behaviors, 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 even intelligence that rivals- or 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 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.”

“La Matanza”, Spain: is killing our own food the only way to eat ethically?

A pig is killed and skinned at a traditional Matanza in Southern Spain

Just 40 kilometres inland from the hotels and souvenir shops of the Costa del Sol lies the Genal Valley, where tiny white villages forgotten by the march of time cling to pine-fringed mountains. These picturesque pueblos blancos, their crumbling houses brightened by red geraniums, are a quaint reminder of a rustic bygone age.

Here, self-sufficiency is not an alternative buzzword but rather the default way of life. Men in battered flat caps use mules to plough the earth, firewood is collected from the surrounding forest to heat homes in winter, and the majority of people in these villages- some with populations of under 200- have smallholdings, growing organic produce and rearing animals for meat all year round.

Sheep, goats, chickens and pigs are kept by most families, and the latter are killed at the end of the long winter in an event known as La Matanza – literally ´the slaughter´. Relatives and friends lend a hand, preparing meat products to be stored for the coming year. Perishable meat is eaten immediately and washed down with copious amounts of alcohol. Like everything else in Andalusia, La Matanza is as good a reason as any for a fiesta.

It´s a dog´s life: Animal rights in Spain

Kira, a German Shepherd Puppy, is laying on my sofa and staring up at me with an expression of gratitude in her big brown eyes. I’m completely in love with her, but unfortunately I’m not allowed pets. This is the third time I’ve rescued a dog that I am in no position to look after, but I don’t seem to be able to help myself.

I discovered her in a friend’s stable, where she had spent all her five months of life alone- whimpering, cold, and crying out for some love and affection. I was told with a shrug of the shoulders that another friend of ours was planning on using her to guard his sheep and that she’d be out of there in no time.  After some investigation, I discovered that she was ‘getting too old’, and since the sheep hadn’t actually been purchased yet she would probably live alone in the stable forever and be replaced by a younger puppy in a few months. Before I knew what I was saying, I’d offered to take Kira with me. I have now re-homed her, but many puppies aren’t so lucky.

Travel: Northumberland and the Farne Islands

Just two miles off England’s stunning Northumbrian coastline, grey seals laze on rocky outcrops jutting from the rolling waves while puffins, kittiwakes, cormorants, razorbills and guillemots soar in the blue sky high above the water carrying fish for their young.

Here lie the iconic Farne Islands, the most easterly point on the Great Whin Sill, a rock formation that runs for some 70 to 80 miles across the northeast of England.

I boarded a boat from the quaint coastal town of Seahouses to reach these North Sea islands, which number 16 at high tide and 28 at low tide.