Scientific research has revealed remarkable cognitive and emotional sophistication in pigs. Understanding pig intelligence provides essential context for evaluating their welfare needs.
The cognitive and emotional sophistication of pigs fundamentally changes the welfare calculus of intensive pig farming. Animals capable of empathy, self-recognition, and complex problem-solving have rich inner lives that are profoundly compromised by barren environments, social instability, and inability to express natural behaviors. The standard farming system for pigs bears no relationship to the environmental complexity and social richness these animals need and are capable of experiencing. The scientific evidence for pig intelligence is not obscure specialist knowledge but widely published and replicated. Acknowledging this evidence is essential to honest welfare evaluation.