I am not much influenced by other people’s thinking. I tend to look at the facts and decide for myself. However, it hardly furthers the public understanding of science to promulgate the idea, in the complete absence of any empirical evidence, that animals may feel more pain because they are stupid.

The general consensus is that humans evolved when we freed up some thinking time by ditching the veggies and climbing to the top of the food chain. On the other hand, no one would disagree with the idea of reducing animal suffering as far as possible. And few would argue that a woody taken with a head shot has not had a better deal than a battery hen.