identical to ours and their reactions to pain remarkably
similar, though lacking (so far as
we know) the philosophical and moral overtones. The
emotionalelementisalltooevident,mainlyin theform of
fear and anger.^9
InBritain,threeseparate expertgovernmentcommittees on
mattersrelatingtoanimalshaveacceptedtheconclusionthat
animals feel pain. After noting the obvious behavioral
evidencefor this view, themembers ofthe Committee on
Cruelty to Wild Animals, set up in 1951, said:
...webelievethatthephysiological,andmoreparticularly
the anatomical, evidence fully justifies and reinforces the
commonsense belief that animals feel pain.
And after discussing the evolutionary value of pain the
committee’s report concluded that pain is “of clear-cut
biologicalusefulness” andthis is“athirdtypeofevidence
thatanimalsfeelpain.”Thecommitteemembersthenwenton
toconsiderformsofsufferingotherthanmerephysicalpain
and addedthat theywere “satisfied that animals do suffer
from acute fear and terror.” Subsequent reports by British
government committeeson experimentsonanimals and on
the welfare of animals under intensive farming methods
agreedwiththisview,concludingthatanimalsarecapableof
suffering both from straightforward physical injuries and
fromfear,anxiety,stress,andsoon.^10 Finally,withinthelast
decade,thepublicationofscientificstudieswithtitlessuchas
AnimalThought,AnimalThinking,andAnimalSuffering:The
ScienceofAnimalWelfarehavemadeitplainthatconscious
awarenessinnonhumananimalsisnowgenerallyacceptedas
a serious subject for investigation.^11