Advances in consciousness science are reshaping our understanding of which animals may have subjective experiences, with significant implications for welfare policy and practice.
The 2024 period marked a significant shift in scientific consensus toward acknowledging broader animal sentience. Researchers who previously argued for narrow vertebrate-only sentience have increasingly accepted that the burden of proof has shifted: the default assumption is growing capacity for experience in proportion to nervous system complexity. For welfare policy, this matters enormously - it suggests current regulatory frameworks significantly underprotect the animals most numerically affected by human activity (invertebrates, fish, and insects). The practical implication is that welfare assessments should apply precautionary protections even where certainty is incomplete, prioritising reduction of potential suffering at scale.