Pigs have cognitive abilities comparable to dogs and surpassing many other companion animals. Understanding pig intelligence illuminates why cognitive deprivation in standard farming systems is a serious welfare concern.
Pig intelligence research has produced some of the most striking evidence that our moral treatment of farm animals is deeply inconsistent with what we know about their cognitive lives. A species that can learn video games, demonstrate self-recognition, and show empathy-like behavior is clearly capable of rich subjective experience — and clearly capable of suffering from the cognitive deprivation and social frustration of standard intensive farming conditions. The disconnect between pig cognitive science and the conditions in which we farm pigs is one of the most ethically troubling aspects of modern food production. Translating this knowledge into public awareness and policy change is both a scientific communication challenge and a moral imperative.