#ANIMAL SENTIENCE FULL#

This was following a government commissioned review of over 300 scientific studies assessing the sentience of these animals. While the Bill initially only covered vertebrates, it was amended in November to include decapods and cephalopods. The Bill plays a crucial role in recognising that animals are capable of feeling pain and need protection in law and makes provision for an Animal Sentience Committee to scrutinise how government policy impacts animal welfare. Mather, University of LethbridgeSumming Up: Highly recommended.The Sentience Bill was drafted in 2021 to replace EU animal welfare legislation post-Brexit.

Broom ends up by pointing out that public attitudes, as exemplified in the Canadian seal hunt and genetically modified animals, can change practice and feels that public education is the ultimate answer to good animal welfare.-J. There is an interesting assessment of sentience across the life-span and when human and nonhuman animals should be protected. Having set a foundation, Broom then discusses how these apply to animal welfare, in many cases using domesticated animals as examples and evaluating how physiological and behavioral measures can be used to study areas such as pain and wellness, including evaluating what is important to an animal. He draws on wide, up-to-date coverage of research on these areas across the phyla, including cephalopods, fish, and crustaceans (23 pages of references after 141 pages of text). He discusses the four bases for animal sentience-cognition, affect, awareness (which he equates to consciousness), and motivation. He quickly outlines what sentience and ethics are, followed by a little history of peoples views of animals. of Cambridge, UK) takes readers on a short, clear, authoritative journey through animal sentience and what it means in terms of how humans value and treat animals.

#ANIMAL SENTIENCE FULL#

With a full chapter covering ethical decisions such as animal protection and experimentation, this book is not only an invaluable resource for researchers and students of animal welfare and biology, but also an engaging and informative read for veterinarians and the general public.īroom (veterinary medicine, Univ. Looking at sentience from a developmental perspective, it analyses when in an individualâ€™s growth sentience can be said to appear and uses evidence from a range of studies investigating embryos, foetuses and young animals to form an enlightening overview of the subject. The book defines aspects of sentience such as consciousness, memory and emotions, and discusses brain complexity in detail. This book explores and answers these questions in an objective way, based on the latest research and empirical evidence.īeginning with an introduction to sentience, the book investigates why we are so interested in sentience, when, as a species, humans became sentient and how it has changed over time. Sentience â€“ the ability to feel, perceive and experience â€“ is central to the animal welfare debate as it raises the question of whether animals experience suffering in life and death.

Animal sentience