Snails occupy a contested space in animal welfare debates. While their sentience is less certain than vertebrates, growing evidence suggests they deserve moral consideration and better treatment.
The moral status of snails is genuinely uncertain. They lack the neural complexity of vertebrates, but they do respond to harm, show behavior consistent with pain avoidance, and can learn. Given this uncertainty, the precautionary principle suggests treating snails with more care than they typically receive. This means preferring iron phosphate over metaldehyde in gardening, ensuring good conditions for pet snails, and applying basic welfare standards to snail farming.