2007-12-09 07:41:55 · 13 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Zoology
I mean do animals experience pain as we humans experience it. If they can't think about pain, is suffering meaningless?
2007-12-09 07:44:42 · update #1
I'm questioning whether or not animals if pain has a different definition when applied to animals.
2007-12-09 07:51:53 · update #2
One doesn't need to be able to think to react reflexively but I recall in anatomy courses there were debates in regards to what can be defined as a "reflex".
2007-12-09 08:00:22 · update #3
I believe that to some degree that animals can remember pain, but without being able to think about pain are they suffering as we define suffering?
2007-12-09 08:02:56 · update #4
They CAN think about pain, and will go to measures to avoid it. Some species will comfort their wounded or ill comrades. Much scientific study has documented reflex pain, pain avoidance, pain levels and how animals tolerate pain.
This is why animal studies of some types have been deemed cruel and inhumane.
Every biologist who works with animal models learns how to terminate the animal's life quickly and painlessly in order to study results (I am talking mice and rats in a lab, not puppies and bunnies).
2007-12-09 08:07:27 · answer #1 · answered by CYP450 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Pain is a very basic response and the neural pathways involved are very similar between humans and most of the higher lifeforms.
In a form of Pavlovian response many animals can be taught to avoid painful stimuli when associated with a non-painful event eg: a bell ringing. Therefore it is logical to assume that they not only feel pain but can remember it and take avoiding action.
This is probably why a lot of dogs are scared of going to the vets before they even feel the needle.
OK, in the case of the true Pavlovian reflex where the response is involuntary, ie a dog salivates when the bell is rung because he associates it with food. This is clearly a reflex. However, when the avoidance of pain involves a complex set of responses, that clearly involve the higher centers, this has to be voluntary. Therefore animals feel pain. Otherwise you might as well argue that animals do not think?
Another good point is that you can observe the effects of drugs given post surgery to animals. They produce the same reduction in heart and respiratory rate and increase mobility in the same way that they do in humans. We know from the actions of these drugs that this can only be because they reduce pain and the animal must therefore have been feeling pain before the drug was given.
2007-12-09 16:00:18 · answer #2 · answered by insomnia c 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course they feel pain!
Living, moving creatures have to feel pain in order to survive!
Animals may seem to tolerate it better than humans... They hide it and don't "complain" about it like humans do (until it's unbearable). I think that's a survival response...they hide their pain because instinct tells them they will be targeted (if in the wild) as weak and their life depends on them to not show the pain. This response is especially noticeable in birds...who will hide signs of sickness until one day they just die and no one ever even knew they were sick.
My dog feels pain and when she gets hurt, she comes to me for comfort just like any human child would! She's also noticeably sad when we're leaving and she has to stay home, and happy upon our return. She gets excited to go to grandma's house, and afraid when someone looms over her. She also seems to feel pleasure when massaged or petted, warm, or comfy. So, I think it's reasonable to assume that she feels pain...physical and emotional based on my day-to-day experiences with her.
2007-12-09 15:55:43 · answer #3 · answered by Angela H 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
animals and humans are closely related. although we tend to hold ourselves higher in the evalutionary chain, we are still one in the same.
we feel hunger, thirst, pain, loneliness...every sense is matched.
the only difference is the intensity in which we feel it.
loneliness maybe be more intense for, let's say, your pet dog, because he can't think up things to do to entertain himself--- while on the other hand we can, so our emotion is not as strong.
to summerise: everything that has a heart and a mind can experiance pain of some sort.
2007-12-09 15:53:17 · answer #4 · answered by Delilah 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Depends on what you consider "pain". Lower vertebrates, like fish, don't really have the parts of the brain developed that we do that allows us (and other mammals) to feel pain in the sense that we know it. They just "feel" that something is harming them, and that they should get out of there, or cease what they're doing that is causing them this sensation.
2007-12-09 22:54:15 · answer #5 · answered by Bushrat 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Of course they do. They would not survive if they ran around bumping into sharp objects or stumbling into rocks or getting bitten by predators unless they instinctively reacted quickly to the pain.
2007-12-09 15:47:38 · answer #6 · answered by Rich Z 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
yes, i'm sure they do. i think for survival and to not look weak some do a good job at hiding it but it's still there. some people can ignore pain too, my hypnotist claims he get all dentistry work done without being numbed, says with mind control it's not nessesary. i think he's nuts, i'd bet there's animals with this ability also. too bad we all can't do this.
2007-12-09 15:55:54 · answer #7 · answered by hamylett 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They have brains too. They feel pain and they think about pain. They can think, or they would never learn anything, especially tricks.
2007-12-09 15:57:15 · answer #8 · answered by Ive Got Answers 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
If you step on a dogs foot it yelps
so the answer is YES!
2007-12-09 15:49:45 · answer #9 · answered by Bel! 3 · 2⤊ 0⤋
of course they feel pain
2007-12-09 15:45:37 · answer #10 · answered by thelma_layton 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋