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UK considering legal protections for animals’ feelings — so what do animals ‘feel’?

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https://www.theverge.com/2021/7/8/225674...s-feelings

INTRO: Animals with spines in the UK could soon be legally recognized as “sentient” beings with feelings if a bill being debated in Parliament moves forward. Should the bill become law, it could get lawmakers to consider animals’ feelings, like pain or even joy, when crafting any new policy. The bill is part of a larger push by the government to set high standards for animal welfare in the country.

That raises a lot of questions for humans. Are animals used for food or fur bored in their pens, for instance? And what do you do with an individual who might react differently to a situation than its peers, based on its unique personality?

If passed, the bill would create an “Animal Sentience Committee” in charge of evaluating how well the government considers those feelings in its policies. For now, the bill focuses on vertebrates; animals with spines. But there’s a push from animal rights advocates to expand its proposed protections to invertebrates, like octopuses and lobsters, that have recently surprised scientists with what they’re capable of doing and potentially feeling.

To better understand what it means for an animal to “feel,” The Verge spoke with Kristina Horback, director of the Animal Behavior and Cognition Lab at the University of California, Davis. This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity... (MORE - the interview)
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