Human wrongs, animal rights

Can we read our pets like a book? Or do we — to use the technical term — anthropomorphize? This isn't just an issue of whether we sometimes let sentiments get the better of us when we are with animals. It turns out that it is very important in setting moral and ethical standards.

Philosophers think that if we discover that an animal can tell the difference between their own thoughts, feelings and intentions and of those around them then they qualify for some sort of elevated moral status, some version of human rights for animals. Why? Because self-consciousness is considered by many to be what makes humans unique. Since the 1960s, however, scientists have been reporting observations that suggest that some animals have self-consciousness and this disrupts our sense of our uniqueness.

We might find it sweet to see how a cat puffs itself up in defence against a puppy, making itself look as big as possible. But is it actually intending to make itself look threatening or is it in fact just doing what it was born to do? That ‘puffing yourself up’ behaviour in animals is a reflex, a bit like us shielding our face and turning it away from something flying towards us. We don't decide to do it, we have evolved to do it. Similarly animals that made themselves look big and threatening at the right moment did best. So the reflex evolved and it is seen in all sorts of animals from toads to humans.