Animal consciousness, cognition and welfare

The level of priority and resource given to the care of organisms is influe nced by beliefs and understanding about their capacities for conscious awar eness. Variation in attitudes to animal welfare around the world today is p artly a reflection of this. Improved understanding of the range of phenomen a of which animals may be conscious is likely to lead to greater global con sensus about the importance of high standards of animal welfare. This is a matter of current relevance. In the global free market there is a danger th at efforts in one country to raise standards for farm or laboratory animals will be compromised by competition from others which employ cheaper, less welfare-friendly systems. Scientific developments which inform us about ani mals' capacities for pleasant and unpleasant feelings will play an importan t role in the development of global agreement about animal welfare standard s. Deciding which animals might have the capacity for consciousness, and th us for suffering, and of what they might be conscious, are fundamental issu es which set boundaries to the ranges of species to be given basic or speci al forms of welfare protection. In practice, such lines have to be drawn an d it is crucial that they are drawn in the right place. This is a difficult but essential task and society looks to scientists for guidance on the mat ter. There have been many developments in recent years in scientific approa ches to the study of consciousness in animals which are pertinent to this d ebate.