What is sentience in animals?
Animal sentience is the ability of an animal to feel emotions such as pleasure or pain. Sentience also refers to an animal's ability to learn from other animals as well as from good and bad experiences.
Humans are said to be sentient, but other animals have been shown to have emotions as well. In general, we learn about animal behaviour by connecting it to our own experiences. Such assumptions, however, are mostly incorrect. So, more study is needed to better understand the emotions of animals.
How do experiments help in judging the mental health of animals?
Understanding animal sentience is important for understanding animal needs. Recent studies reveal that picking up a mouse by its tail may ruin its day. A sugar treat may make a bee happy. Crayfish can experience anxiety, and ferrets are easily bored. Fish and octopuses can also feel pain. Knowing all of this may affect how we treat animals. People can try to understand animals by watching their behaviours and bodies. For example, an animal trembles when it is afraid, a dog may wag its tail when it is happy, etc.
Can an experiment give incorrect results?
Yes. Experiments are usually conducted on animals kept in laboratories. Keeping animals in cages might stress them causing them to behave abnormally.
Animals are also not able to do things they normally do when not in a laboratory. These things can have a bad effect on the results of the experiment.
Will new laws be required if animals are declared sentient?
If it is declared that animals are sentient, then new laws respecting the emotions of animals will have to be implemented. This is especially true for laws relating to the consumption of animals.
The growing acknowledgement of animal sentience will also significantly impact laboratory animal research. They will have to be treated and kept in proper conditions.
What do you think? Can animals feel emotions just like us? Tell us in the comments below!
