Scientific evaluation of animal emotions: Brief history and recent New Zealand contributions

Abstract

The idea of animals having emotions was once rejected as being anthropomorphic and unscientific. However, with society’s changing views and advances in scientific knowledge and technology, the idea of animal emotions is becoming more accepted. Emotions are subjective internal experiences that can’t be measured directly. Animal welfare scientists must infer emotions by measuring the behavioural, physiological and neurobiological components of emotional experience. In this paper, we describe innovative ways in which these indicators have been used by New Zealand scientists to facilitate a more holistic understanding of the emotions and welfare of animals.