Advances in animal cognition research continually expand the circle of animals recognized as having complex inner lives, with direct implications for how we treat them.
Animal cognition research has a direct relationship with animal welfare: demonstrating cognitive complexity in a species typically leads to increased welfare protection for that species. The history of welfare science is partly a history of expanding circles of recognized sentience — from mammals, to birds, to fish, to crustaceans, and now toward insects and other invertebrates. Each expansion has welfare policy implications. Remaining current with cognition research enables advocates, policymakers, and individuals to make welfare decisions based on the best available evidence about which animals are capable of suffering.