Published: 2025-11-19

Are Fish an Inferior Kind of Animal?

Barbara Grabowska Logo ORCID

Abstract

Fish are unique animals: due to their distinct habitat and modes of communication, our contact with them is very limited. Consequently, they evoke less sympathy from us than mammals or birds. At times, even their capacity to experience pain and suffering is questioned. This issue is crucial because sentience is essentially the sole basis for attributing moral status to fish. As such, they are primarily protected by the principle against cruelty. Fish are neither subjects of life nor non-human persons. They are protected under the principle of equal consideration of interests, yet they are simultaneously regarded as replaceable beings. Legal protections concerning, for example, transport and slaughter conditions are far weaker or altogether absent. Public opinion rarely advocates for fish, largely because few people are aware of fish farming practices and the conditions therein. Therefore, it is important to draw attention to the suffering of these animals and the need to extend protective measures to them as well.

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Grabowska, B. (2025). Are Fish an Inferior Kind of Animal?. Zoophilologica. Polish Journal of Animal Studies, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA.2025.S.01

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2025
Published: 2025-04-03


ISSN: 2719-2687
eISSN: 2451-3849
Ikona DOI 10.31261/ZOOPHILOLOGICA

Publisher
Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Śląskiego | University of Silesia Press

Licence CC Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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