What is the impact of increased evidence that insects feel 'pain' on animal welfare?
Globally, more than 1 trillion
Insects may feel pain, says growing evidence – here's what this means for animal welfare laws
https://theconversation.com/insects-may-feel-pain-says-growing-evidence-heres-what-this-means-for-animal-welfare-laws-195328
Traditional animal welfare arguments and laws have ruled out insects because of their short lifespans. However, many studies are becoming clear that insects feel pain.
Research results that insects may feel 'pain'
It has long been known that most animals, including insects, exhibit reflex -like responses, but even when animals respond to potentially harmful stimuli such as heat, they do not necessarily exhibit human-like 'pain.' was not thought to be feeling
Experiments in which bumblebees were given heated and unheated sugar solutions revealed that if the sugar solutions had the same concentration, the bumblebees avoided the heated sugar solutions. However, bumblebees have also been observed to prefer heated sugar water if the heated sugar water is more concentrated than the unheated sugar water.
This reaction is not just a reflex, but suggests that the bumblebee feels pain (PDF file) . It has also been confirmed that bumblebees remember heated and unheated sugar solutions, and rely on memory to determine where to get sugar solutions.
The Framework for Assessing Evidence of Pain in Insects has eight (PDF files) criteria to assess whether an animal's nervous system can support pain and whether its behavior is indicative of pain.
Flies and cockroaches meet 6 out of 8 criteria, so this is 'strong evidence' that they feel pain, said Matilda Gibbons, who studies behavioral neuroscience at Queen Mary University. In addition, bees, bees, and ants that meet 4 out of 8 criteria, and butterflies, moths, crickets, and grasshoppers that meet 3 out of 8 criteria have 'substantial evidence' of feeling pain. Beetles meet only two of the eight criteria, but there seems to be no insect that does not meet one criterion.
In the UK, octopuses that meet 7 out of 8 criteria were recognized as creatures with senses, so they were included in the scope of the Animal Welfare (Sensory) Act in 2022.
The British government recognizes that ``shrimp, crab, and octopus are creatures with sensations,'' and advances towards the enactment of a bill that prohibits the act of boiling alive-GIGAZINE
Some researchers are recommending including insects in animal welfare legislation after studies show that insects feel pain. It is important to treat insects in the same way as livestock and pets by setting a consistent standard for the whole animal about beings like insects that can not directly tell humans that they feel pain. person claims.
Pesticides kill trillions of wild insects each year, sometimes slowly killing them over several days. That's why researchers say pesticides are a major welfare concern for insects in the wild and encourage the development of humane pesticides that can kill insects faster while minimizing suffering.
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