Animal Pain
Is the pain an animal feels the same as that of a human? Should the pain felt by an animal count for less because they do not hold the same level of intellect as humans? In the essay "Animal Pain" by Bernard Rollin, a leading scholar in animal rights and consciousness, he argues against the theory that animals can't anticipate an remember pain (Regan, Tom, and Peter Singer, eds. Animal Rights and Human Obligations: Second Edition. New Jersey: Prentice, 1989.). One of the points he makes is that non-human animals have an inability to understand why they are experiencing this suffering and cannot contemplate a possible end to it. He says, "Since animals cannot deal intellectually with danger and injury as we do, their motivation to flee must be correlatively stronger than ours - in a word, they probably hurt more" (Regan and Singer 61).
In the history of animal experimentation, science has referred to the pain reflexes of an animal more as that of a machine. Rollin points out that "the neural mechanisms responsible for pain behavior are remarkably similar in all vertebrates" (Regan and Singer 62). He goes on to discuss more detailed discussion of the similarities in human and non-human animal brains such as the release of serotonin and other neurochemicals , proving that in the presence of these as the body's way to deal with pain, animals do experience pain. They are not just irrational machines that are only reacting to stimuli without any conciousness of what is being done to their bodies. An interesting example Rollin gives is when someone feels chest pain, thinking it is a heart attack, experiences not only the actual pain, but terrifying fear as well. And then only to find out that it was only gas. An animal would feel this pain and experience the fear but have no understanding why it is happening or that it may end. This is what Rollin means when he talks about the helplessness an animal feels during an experiment involving pain.
One last point from Rollins article - He says "...research indicates that all vertebrates have receptor cites for benzodiazepine, which, in turn, suggests that the physiological basis of anxiety exists in all vertebrates" (Regan and Singer 65). The possibilty, or, most likeliness, of anxiety from the pain of an experiment is an even more persuasive argument for the need to give animals moral consideration and not dismiss their conciousness of suffering.
In the history of animal experimentation, science has referred to the pain reflexes of an animal more as that of a machine. Rollin points out that "the neural mechanisms responsible for pain behavior are remarkably similar in all vertebrates" (Regan and Singer 62). He goes on to discuss more detailed discussion of the similarities in human and non-human animal brains such as the release of serotonin and other neurochemicals , proving that in the presence of these as the body's way to deal with pain, animals do experience pain. They are not just irrational machines that are only reacting to stimuli without any conciousness of what is being done to their bodies. An interesting example Rollin gives is when someone feels chest pain, thinking it is a heart attack, experiences not only the actual pain, but terrifying fear as well. And then only to find out that it was only gas. An animal would feel this pain and experience the fear but have no understanding why it is happening or that it may end. This is what Rollin means when he talks about the helplessness an animal feels during an experiment involving pain.
One last point from Rollins article - He says "...research indicates that all vertebrates have receptor cites for benzodiazepine, which, in turn, suggests that the physiological basis of anxiety exists in all vertebrates" (Regan and Singer 65). The possibilty, or, most likeliness, of anxiety from the pain of an experiment is an even more persuasive argument for the need to give animals moral consideration and not dismiss their conciousness of suffering.
posted by Allison at 5:22 PM
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