Humane Society Institute for Science and Policy
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Attempting to answer the question of animal awareness
No full textIt was as a graduate student that I first encountered the work of both Donald Griffin and Carolyn Ristau. Griffin\u27s The Question of Animal Awareness (1976) and Animal Minds (2001) helped a budding animal-minds researcher appreciate both the possibilities of studying non-human animal consciousness and the struggle that such an undertaking would face. Now Ristau\u27s (2024a,b) timely biography helps explain how Griffin became the figure in animal cognition that he is
Forests and Memory
No full textBoria Sax, a folklore expert, explores what forests mean for humankind and himself
The Use and Misuse of Emotional Support Animals
No full textIn the United States, trained service dogs are permitted in public places that do not allow pets. In contrast, emotional support animals are not trained and only have access to no-pet housing such as apartments, condos, and dorms. One in four emotional support animal owners obtained their ESA letters through internet sites rather than from personal health professionals
World Happiness Report 2023
No full textIn the 2023 WHR, the life satisfaction values for 2021, 2022, and 2023 were averaged. Scandinavian countries occupied five of the top seven positions, with Israel (number 4) and the Netherlands (number 5) taking the other two positions. In general, national well-being has been remarkably resilient despite the increase in global morbidity and mortality caused by the pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Helping and altruistic behaviors increased during the pandemic and may have acted to counter the adverse effects of the pandemic and associated lockdowns
Questions about sentience are not scientific but cultural
No full textAbstract: The findings of complex cognitive-like behaviours in plants are surprising and exciting. However, they do not provide a scientific reason for ascribing sentience to plants. The target article, in trying to provide evidence for sentience in plants, exposes the weakness of the science of animal consciousness in general. In this commentary, I try to explain why the scientific method is incapable of resolving the question of which organisms or systems are sentient
Insentient “cognition”?
No full textA sentient state is a state that it feels like something to be in. Cows have them, cars don’t. Cognitive capacities are a subset of behavioral capacities. Not all behavioral capacities are cognitive (but the distinction is fuzzy). Might the difference have something to do with whether the behaver is sentient
Where is the Evidence that Laboratory Animal Use is Falling?
No full textAdvocates tend to believe that laboratory animal use is increasing, but reports from several countries indicate that such a belief is off-target
Methane and Climate Change
No full textMethane is a potent greenhouse gas, but technology already offers many abatement opportunities
A Year of Wins for Farmed Animals
No full textAlthough the European Union shelved its ambitious farmed animal welfare reforms, there were other “wins” for farmed animals in 2023. There were 130 new corporate pledges to eliminate cages for laying hens and the worst abuses of broiler chickens. So far, over 1,000 corporate pledges have been fully implemented, and 39% of American hens, 60% of European hens, and 80% of British hens are cage-free, up from 6%, 41%, and 48%, respectively, a decade ago. The US Supreme Court upheld California’s Proposition 12, which bans the sale of eggs, pork, and veal from caged animals and their offspring in California. Denmark unveiled a plan to promote plant-based eating, and South Korea announced it would unveil such a plan soon. The European Parliament called for an EU-wide action plan for increased plant-based protein production and consumption. Other advances included positive actions on crustaceans in Britain and fish in the EU
Do Pets Really Save $23 Billion a Year in Health Care Costs?
No full textA new pet industry report claims pet-ownership saves Americans $23 billion a year in medical costs. Unfortunately, this claim is not supported by most research on human-pet interactions. For example, there is little evidence that pet owners make fewer doctor visits or are less likely to be obese