SUFFERING SUFFERING How do we know if an animal is suffering?

Evidence in mammals: Same CNS response to painful stimuli in thalamus Same neural anatomy to perceive pain Similar behavioral responses Similar physiological responses

SUFFERING: A wise range of unpleasant states, including:FearPainFrustrationExhaustionHungerThirst

But what of gray areas? Boredom?Loneliness? A little hunger? A little thirst?

Suffering vs. Discomfort/Unpleasantness

Suffering vs. Discomfort/Unpleasantness INTENSITY Pain can cause minor discomfort or terrible suffering

Suffering vs. Discomfort/Unpleasantness INTENSITY Ex: Pain can cause minor discomfort or terrible suffering DURATION Ex: Pain can last 1/4 of a second or for hours or days.

Suffering vs. Discomfort/Unpleasantness INTENSITY Ex: Pain can cause minor discomfort or terrible suffering DURATION Ex: Pain can last 1/4 of a second or for hours or days. INDIVIDUAL/SPECIES DIFFERENCES Any 2 individuals differ in what’s “painful”

HOW DECIDE IF ANIMAL IS SUFFERING? I. PHYSIOLOGICAL TESTS - Comparative levels of Cortisol

HOW DECIDE IF ANIMAL IS SUFFERING? II. PHYSICAL HEALTH

* Most widely used indicator of suffering Doctor’s Without Borders Flyer

II. PHYSICAL HEALTH II. PHYSICAL HEALTH * Most widely used indicator of suffering * Ill health, disease and injury most common cause of suffering in all species, including ours.

IF DISEASE AND INJURY CAUSES SUFFERING, DOES THE LACK OF IT INSURE WELL-BEING? * Intensity of injury not always equivalent to the amount of suffering. De Waal 1996

IF DISEASE AND INJURY CAUSES SUFFERING, DOES THE LACK OF IT INSURE WELL-BEING? * Intensity of injury not always equivalent to the amount of suffering. * Can’t always equate physical health/productivity with well-being because:

IF DISEASE AND INJURY CAUSES SUFFERING, DOES THE LACK OF IT INSURE WELL-BEING? > Productivity is a feature of a group > How measure productivity? Ex: Rapid weight gain of commercial chickens, who may suffer from arthritis.

IF DISEASE AND INJURY CAUSES SUFFERING, DOES THE LACK OF IT INSURE WELL-BEING? > Productivity is a feature of a group > How measure productivity? Ex: Deletion of gene in roosters that detects Lordosis More breast meat; Females attacked and killed.

Health is NOT enough to eliminate potential of suffering, but is the first thing to consider.

III. COMPARE WITH ‘NATURAL LIFE’

1) Are domestic/captive animals comparable to wild versions? * May be genetically different ( Larger difference between egg layers and broiler chickens than between domestic chickens and Jungle fowl.) and Jungle fowl.)

Average # eggs laid/year Average # eggs laid/year Red Junglefowl 62/year White Leghorns181/year

III. COMPARE WITH ‘NATURAL LIFE’ 1) Are domestic/captive animals comparable to wild versions? * May be different due to experience

III. COMPARE WITH ‘NATURAL LIFE’ 2) How do we know that animals suffer if they 2) How do we know that animals suffer if they can’t behave ‘naturally?’

Anti-predator behavior in mixed flocks of passerines (song birds). * Scan environment for predators less if in mixed flocks (more eyes), more time to feed. Note many domestic animals less alert than wild conspecifics - less to fear?

Do pigs ‘need’ to wallow in mud? Only wallow if hot - if cool enough, pigs avoid mud.

Sheep graze over 100’s of acres in areas of poor pasture, but if provided food and water, they stay in the same area for months.

Cloud Video

Not enough to know animal is living a ‘natural’ life to know that they aren’t suffering.

IV. BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS 1) Any behavioral signs of suffering?

Gritsai 2004 Studied responses of cockroaches to morphine ~ Control subjects put on hotplate with no morphine ~ Exper’l subjects given morphine, put on hot plate RES: Exper’l subjects spent signif’ly less time on plate Similar response seen in crickets.

Gritsai 2004 Studied responses of cockroaches to morphine ~ Control subjects put on hotplate with no morphine ~ Exper’l subjects given morphine, put on hot plate RES: Exper’l subjects spent signif’ly less time on plate Bergamo 1992 Injected crabs with morphine, struck eye stalks. ~ Injected of morphine produced dose dependent decrease in the crab’s defensive response.

Conflicting Views: Farstad 2005 Norway project on pain response in lobsters, crabs and fish. Argued evidence that these groups are incapable of experiencing pain.

IV. BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS 1) Any behavioral signs of suffering? 2) Experiment to find more subtle signs: (Ex: Cats trained to push lever for food reward. Added blast of air as consequence of pushing lever. Cats paced back and forth)

Displacement Behavior A behavior performed due to the inability to perform/inhibition of the desired behavior. “To take the place of” -- A different behavior Ex: (Person wants to yell at boss, instead chews on fingernails)

Re-directed Behavior The same behavioral action directed toward a different target than originally intended. The same behavior Ex: (Cat redirects aggression toward house mate when sees intruder cat in yard)

IV. BEHAVIORAL OBSERVATIONS 1) Any behavioral signs of suffering? 2) Experiment to find more subtle signs. 3) Look for abnormal, persistent actions: Ex: feather plucking, self-mutilation, STEREOTYPIES

STEREOTYPIES: Cause release of endorphins like serotonin and dopamine that can act as internal opiates. (careful though - note behavior of Red Deer)

V. CHOICE EXPERIMENTS Spencer: “Pleasure and pain are evolutionarily constructive responses.” Animals move toward pleasure Animals move away from pain

PREFERENCE TESTS: Choice between 2 (or more) conditions Ex: Brambell Committee and Ex: Brambell Committee and size of wire in chicken cages. size of wire in chicken cages.

Ex 2: Sheep given choice to move into Sheep given choice to move into squeeze cage or electrical device. squeeze cage or electrical device.

Ex 3: Taught pigs to control their environmental temperature inside the facility. Pigs chose temperature lower than had been thought they wanted. Improved well-being. Decreased costs.

BENEFITS TO CHOICE/PREFERENCE TESTS 1) Animalcentric - ‘asks’ the animal what’s important, avoids anthropocentrism.

BENEFITS TO CHOICE/PREFERENCE TESTS 1) Animalcentric - ‘asks’ the animal what’s important, avoids anthropocentrism. 2) Some tests are relatively easy to do.

BENEFITS TO CHOICE/PREFERENCE TESTS 1) Animalcentric - ‘asks’ the animal what’s important, avoids anthropocentrism. 2) Some tests are relatively easy to do. 3) Answers can be very clear.

BENEFITS TO CHOICE/PREFERENCE TESTS 1) Animalcentric - ‘asks’ the animal what’s important, avoids anthropocentrism. 2) Some tests are relatively easy to do. 3) Answers can be very clear. 4) Can get sense of strength of preference: How hard is the animal willing to work?

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?)

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one.

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one. 3) Methods can skew the results.

WireFloor LitterFloor Hughes and Flooring Preference Test IF SUMMED TIME ON WIRE VS LITTER, HENS MOVED FREELY: NO DIFFERENCE SUMMED # OF CHOICES FOR WIRE VS. LITTER, HENS KEPT WHERE CHOSE FOR 2 HOURS: PREFERRED LITTER 3) Methods can skew the results.

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one. 3) Methods can skew the results. 4) Effect of experience.

BatteryCages Garden Allowed to make choice between cages or garden. Kept in chosen area for five minutes. Repeated 24 times (look for increase over time in choice if animal has a preference.) Dawkins Start

2) Effect of Experience BatteryCages Garden IMMEDIATE PREFERENCE FOR GARDEN IF FAMILIAR IMMEDIATE PREFRENCE FOR BATTERY IF FAMILIAR GARDEN ULTIMATE PREFERENCE FOR BOTH Dawkins experiment on chickens Start

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?)

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one.

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one. 3) Methods can skew the results.

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one. 3) Methods can skew the results. 4) Effect of experience.

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one. 3) Methods can skew the results. 4) Effect of experience. 5) Animals don’t always choose what’s good for them.

DISADVANTAGES TO CHOICE TESTS 1) Preference is not an indicator of suffering. (Coke or Pepsi?) 2) Short-term preference vs. long-term one. 3) Methods can skew the results. 4) Effect of experience. 5) Animals don’t always choose what’s good for them. 6) What if choice between two evils?

VI. ANALOGIES WITH OURSELVES 1) Compare their behavior with ours (If animal screams and cries, it might mean it is suffering.) 2) Imagine yourself in the animal’s situation (How would YOU feel if you had to eat feces?)

SUMMARY: No one method is enough to evaluate suffering in many cases. We must integrate: PhysiologyHealth Knowledge of Ethology Observations of Behavior Choice Tests Analogies with ourselves IF animalcentric