The science of animal suffering

对人类生活质量的研究表明，我们对自己幸福的评估只与我们拥有的部分相关。我们的能动性（我们如何获得我们所重视的东西，包括我们了解不同结果和做出明智选择的能力）也很重要。最近的评论表明，这种代理可能对非人类动物的福利很重要。疼痛是动物福利的一个关键方面，但到目前为止，代理对动物疼痛体验的影响还没有研究。我的假设是，能动性在很大程度上影响着人们对疼痛的体验。我更有争议的观点是，在缺乏控制和可预测性的情况下，痛苦更有可能被认为是痛苦，这是社会对福利的关注中至关重要的一个区别。我提出了一系列有两个主要目标的实验。第一个是测试动物对相同的疼痛刺激会表现出较低反应的预测，如果在i)知道刺激将在何时何地应用的情况下进行测试，包括使刺激可预测的特定线索，ii)控制刺激暴露（持续时间和强度）的能力。人类患者报告的痛苦通常伴随着抑郁状态（情绪低落）。我认为，如果动物的疼痛也引起或与情绪低落有关，那就值得特别关注。我还认为，如果生活在可预测性和可控制性强的环境中，处于疼痛状态的动物会较少表现出情绪低落的迹象。拟议的研究将包括实验室大鼠和奶牛，因为这两种动物都要经受各种常规的、痛苦的程序，通常是在糟糕的机构条件下进行的，这为拟议的研究提供了一个基线，可以与提供更多信息和控制的条件进行比较。这些研究将使用一套既新颖又成熟的方法来测量这些动物的疼痛和情绪状态。提出的实验将有助于动物福利科学和动物情感状态的基础文献，并可能对我们理解实验室和农业系统中饲养的动物福利具有重要意义。这项研究将深入了解哪些程序和做法可能会加重疼痛反应，并增加动物疼痛伴随情绪低落的可能性。科学评估动物痛苦的概念框架和方法的发展将有助于激发针对我们照顾的动物所遭受的伤害的新研究。这些资金将用于培训年轻科学家，以帮助满足对具有动物福利研究专长的学者和专业人员日益增长的需求。

Research on quality of life in humans illustrates that assessments of our own well-being are only partially related to what we have. Our sense of agency (how we gain access to the things we value, including our ability to learn about different outcomes and to make informed choices) is also critical. Recent reviews have revealed that agency may be important for the welfare of nonhuman animals. Pain is a key aspect of animal welfare, but until now the effect of agency on the experience of pain in animals has not been studied. My hypothesis is that agency critically affects how pain is experienced. My more provocative claim is that, in the absence of control and predictability, pain is more likely to be considered suffering, a distinction crucial in societal concerns about welfare. I propose a series of experiments with two main goals. The first is to test the prediction that animals will show lower responses to the identical pain stimulus, if tested in situations with i) knowledge of when and where the stimuli will be applied, including specific cues that make the stimuli predictable, and ii) the ability to control exposure (duration and magnitude) to the stimulus. Human patient reports of suffering are often accompanied by depression like states (low mood). I propose that pain in animals is of particular concern if it too causes or is associated with evidence of low mood. I also argue that animals in pain will show less evidence of low mood if living in environments that afford good predictability and control. The proposed studies will include both laboratory rats and dairy cattle, as both animals are subjected to a variety of routine, painful procedures, often under conditions of poor agency, providing a baseline for the proposed studies that can be compared with conditions that provide more information and control. The studies will use a suite of both novel and established measures of pain and mood states in these animals. The proposed experiments will contribute to the basic literature in animal welfare science and on affective states in animals, and may have important implications for our understanding of the welfare of animals kept in laboratory and agricultural systems. This research will provide insights into which procedures and practices are likely to accentuate pain responses, and increase the likelihood that pain is accompanied by low mood in animals. The development of a conceptual framework and methodology for the scientific assessment of suffering in animals will help inspire new research directed at harms experienced by animals under our care. The funds will go toward training of young scientists to help meet a growing demand for academics and professionals with expertise in animal welfare research.