Resumo

MALDONADO-RESENDIZ, Itzcóatl. Do animals feel?. Rev. mex. anestesiol. [online]. 2023, vol.46, n.4, pp.284-287.  Epub 26-Fev-2024. ISSN 0484-7903.  https://doi.org/10.35366/112302.

The anthropocentric view of life has led to the exploitation of animals to satisfy the human needs, primary (such as food) and secondary (such as entertainment), without regard for their suffering or well-being. However, Lamarck’s and Darwin’s theories of evolution erased the dichotomy between human and animal, placing the former as just another species within the entire biological diversity of life. Hans Jonas asserted that the differences between humans and other animals lie in the degree of complexity and not in capabilities, contributing to the idea of biological continuity from a common origin. The anatomic and physiological similarities, the presence of chemical pain mediators, the biochemical and physiological changes in painful situations, as well as the positive response to the use of analgesic medications, demonstrate that other animals feel pain and suffer. The Cambridge Declaration on consciousness emphasizes that it is not necessary to possess a neocortex to be considered sentient, which has led to the analysis of this capacity even in many invertebrates. Do animals feel? Invariably the answer is yes. It is important to consider this to avoid their suffering, as proposed in Peter Singer’s sensocentrism theory. Otherwise, we could be accused of discrimination, which, based on species membership, is called speciesism.

Palavras-chave : non-human animals; sentient; pain; bioethics; veterinary medicine.