Everybody Hurts, Including Cows

[Nakharar]

Everybody hurts, including cows

 

Once they were a byword for mindless docility. But cows have a secret mental life in which they bear grudges, nurture friendships and become excited over intellectual challenges, scientists have found.

Cows are also capable of feeling strong emotions such as pain, fear and even anxiety - they worry about the future. But if farmers provide the right conditions, they can also feel great happiness.

The findings have emerged from studies of farm animals that have found similar traits in pigs, goats, chickens and other livestock. They suggest that such animals may be so emotionally similar to humans that welfare laws need to be rethought.

Christine Nicol, professor of animal welfare at Bristol University, said even chickens may have to be treated as individuals with needs and problems.

"Remarkable cognitive abilities and cultural innovations have been revealed," she said. “Our challenge is to teach others that every animal we intend to eat or use is a complex individual, and to adjust our farming culture accordingly."

Nicol will be presenting her findings to a scientific conference to be held in London next month by Compassion in World Faming, the animal welfare lobby group.

John Webster, professor of animal husbandry at Bristol, has just published a book on the topic, Animal Welfare: Limping Towards Eden

 

Sunday Times

[Nakharar]

If they think that such lame arguments, however valid they are, will instill people with feelings of guilt then they should better seek help somewhere. This is just plain pathetic: "Remarkable cognitive abilities and cultural innovations have been revealed." "Our challenge is to teach others that every animal we intend to eat or use is a complex individual, and to adjust our farming culture accordingly." It's no surprise to consider those who think animals and humans have same moral worth as somewhat dejected. Especially given the fact that another human is being put down literally, this is just perverse. I always thought that people who strive for the Environmentalist cause are in serious need of a substitute for whatever they lack in their lives.

[Anonymouse]

I bet Christine Nicol has never had a succulent and well done bovine delight to change her mind.

 

http://www.saveurs.sympatico.ca/ency_6/boeuf/hamburger.jpg

 

Mmmmm.

[Nakharar]

That frigid woman doesn't know what she is missing.