In the US, we spend billions of dollars a year pampering our pets. We have laws to protect them from harm and to punish those who inflict it on them. And yet, we routinely abuse pigs and chickens on farms, cutting off their beaks and tails without anesthesia, and cramming them into cages.

In this episode, neuroscientist Lori Marino helps us understand how arbitrarily we draw the lines between animals as pets and animals as food, and how we might redraw those lines.

Further listening and reading:

Lori Marino has done in-depth round-ups of all the research on chicken cognition and pig cognition.

You might also enjoy this study, where students who worked with chickens were surprised by their intelligence

In the piece, we used clips from this BBC Earth segment on how pig intelligence compares to toddler intelligence, and a Compassion in World Farming piece on pigs and video games

Dylan Matthews has written in depth about unnecessarily painful pig castration. He’s also written about the practice of mass-culling male chicks.

For more on what labels like “wild caught,” “organic,” and “grass-fed” actually mean for the food you eat, Rachel Krantz wrote a comprehensive guide. We also have more information on what it means for eggs to be “cage-free.”

We always want to hear from you! Please send comments and questions to [email protected].

Subscribe to Future Perfect on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app to automatically get new episodes of the latest season each week. This podcast is made possible thanks to support from Animal Charity Evaluators. They research and promote the most effective ways to help animals.

Featuring: Lori Marino, Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy

Hosts: Sigal Samuel (@SigalSamuel), staff writer, Vox

More to explore:

Follow all of Future Perfect’s reporting on the Future of Meat.

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