Research documenting farm animal cognition — including memory, social recognition, emotional contagion, and problem solving — has profound implications for how we should treat them.
The expanding body of farm animal cognition research is progressively closing the perceived gap between the cognitive and emotional sophistication of farm animals and companion animals. Animals that recognize individual faces, form lasting bonds, feel empathy for herdmates in distress, and demonstrate problem-solving are animals with rich inner lives — lives that current farming systems frequently fail to respect. Understanding that a cow recognizes her herdmates as individuals and grieves their loss changes the ethical calculus of how we justify current production practices.