According to the nation, animals have the ability to feel "pain, pleasure,
hunger, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort, and excitement."
Experience Love
Everybody who sobbed uncontrollably during "My Octopus Teacher" already
understood that octopuses are sentient, or that they are able to experience
emotions like pain and pleasure. This information has now been validated by
the United Kingdom.
According to a
press statement
from the UK Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, the nation
is amending its Animal Welfare Sentience Bill to recognize octopus, crabs,
squids, and lobsters as well as "all other decapod crustaceans and
cephalopod molluscs" as sentient beings. The measure seeks to guarantee that
animal sensibility is considered when creating governmental policy, and as
such may have an impact on discussions of animal rights and dietary
preferences.
According to current scientific evidence, decapods and cephalopods are
capable of feeling pain, therefore it is only fair that this crucial piece
of law extends to them, said Lord Zac Goldsmith, Minister for Animal
Welfare.
Joy and Solace
An
exhaustive
investigation by the London School of Economics and Political Science
revealed that these organisms are capable of experiencing, which prompted
the update "Hunger, thirst, thirst, warmth, joy, comfort, and excitement are
all emotions.
According to the press release, this is caused by the organisms' "complex
central nervous systems, one of the essential markers of sentience."
According to the study, "[our] conclusion is that the time has come to
explicitly include cephalopod molluscs and decapod crustaceans in UK animal
welfare law" and "to take commensurate actions to restrict activities that
are a source of reasonable and widespread animal welfare concerns."
It's important to note that the press release emphasized that the law would
not affect current maritime industry operations and practices; rather, it
will only have an impact on future government decisions. It's nonetheless
encouraging to see that a big international power is making a concerted
effort to acknowledge the existence of the animals and the possibility that
they may not love being cooked alive for tasty meat.
