Pigs demonstrate sophisticated cognitive abilities including object permanence, social learning, and mirror self-recognition. These findings have direct implications for the welfare consideration they deserve.
The cognitive sophistication of pigs challenges the assumption that their welfare experience is simpler than that of companion animals like dogs or cats. Pigs have equivalent or superior cognitive abilities to dogs on many tasks. The welfare implication is significant: animals capable of anticipating, learning, and forming social bonds likely have richer and more complex welfare experiences than simpler animals. This argues for much higher welfare standards in pig production.