Studies Show Fish Have the Capacity to Feel Pain and Suffer

[Guest guest]

Studies Show Fish Have the Capacity to Feel Pain and

Suffer

 

 

Two recent studies suggest that fish and other

invertebrates may feel pain and experience fear and

other complex emotions that contribute to their

ability to suffer. The first study includes a paper

from a

University of Birmingham (England) researcher that

says that invertebrates respond similarly to

vertebrate animals when exposed to noxious stimuli.

The author uses this response to stimuli as a basis

for invertebrates being able to experience pain, but

also notes that some people believe such responses are

only reflexes. The paper goes on to draw a possible

distinction between less " complex " invertebrates

such as insects compared with cephalopods, including

octopuses, squids, etc. The paper is published in the

Journal of the Institute for Laboratory Animal

Research and concludes with the perspective that

greater care should be provided to invertebrates in

lab environments.

 

Another study conducted by students from the

University of Guelph (Canada) provides evidence that

fish respond to fear similarly to other animals who

are more commonly believed to be sentient. According

to one researcher, " There is more evidence that fish

do have some level of consciousness than there is

evidence against it, and it is logically more likely

that fish are sentient animals than they are not. " The

research is focused on determining whether or not fish

have

the neuro-anatomical structures that allow them to

have consciousness and experience pain and suffering.

The series of ongoing studies is being conducted by

the University of Guelph's " fish welfare group " and

is sponsored by the Animal Welfare Institute and the

Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing.

 

1. " A Question of Pain in Invertebrates, " ILAR

Journal, 10/16/05

http://dels.nas.edu/ilar_n/ilarjournal/33_1_2/V33_1_2Question.shtml

 

2. " What Fish Feel, " AWI Online, 10/14/05

http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/05_54_04/05_54_4p19.htm