The scientific evidence for sentience and emotional experience in farm animals has strengthened dramatically, supporting stronger welfare protections.
The scientific evidence for rich emotional and cognitive lives in farm animals has transformed our understanding of what farm animal welfare requires. These are not simple automatons but sentient beings with preferences, memories, friendships, and emotional states that matter to them. Evidence of empathy, grief, play, and problem-solving in farm animals has profound implications for production systems that frustrate, isolate, and harm these cognitive and emotional beings. Growing scientific consensus on farm animal sentience provides the empirical foundation for far stronger welfare standards than currently exist.