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"The cow that was sent to be slaughtered cried on the road, and kept lying on the ground refusing to move, and was finally woken up by the owner."
In recent years, news has gradually spread, and as this rumor has fermented, more and more videos of cows kneeling and crying on the way to the slaughterhouse, and resisting after being sent to the slaughterhouse, have been filmed and uploaded to the Internet.
Rumors about the tears of cows sent to slaughter have aroused the curiosity of many people, and some people have wondered about the incident: "Do those cows really know that they are about to be slaughtered and eaten by humans?"
So, will the cow know that it is about to be eaten by humans?
1. The role of tears.
From a biological point of view, tears are the fluid secreted by the tear glands, and its most fundamental function is to protect the eyes and provide moisturizing effects for the eyes.
The tear gland is a complex endocrine gland, which will carry out appropriate activities according to external stimuli or changes in the internal environment, and it will often secrete and discharge a certain amount of fluid to keep the eyes moist.
At the same time, when the eye is stimulated by the outside, it will quickly secrete more tears, flush the foreign body out of the eye in time, and protect the eye from damage.
The secretion mechanism of tear glands involves a series of physiological processes, including the stimulation of signal conduction and the metabolic activity of glandular cells.
Therefore, tears in the eye are not only a physiological response to external stimuli, but also involve some other physiological mechanisms.
In addition, in addition to protecting the eyes, tears also have the function of eliminating eye infections and inflammation.
Both humans and animals experience eye infections and inflammation by speeding up the secretion of tears in the eye to enhance the ability to eliminate pathogens.
But for animals, their tears and human tears will be slightly different, their eyes are stimulated by the outside to produce tears, often transparent, not like humans produce "tears".
In addition, the secretion of animal tears is mainly used to sputter foreign bodies from the eyes and remove bacteria, but they also contain ingredients like tears, which have a protective effect on the eyeballs.
When animals produce tears, it is known that their eyes have been stimulated by the outside world, or they are in a state of emotional excitement.
2. How do animals experience emotions?
In addition to the physiological response to eye stimuli, the production of tears in animals is also related to their emotions.
So, how do animals experience emotions?
In human cognition, emotions are generated by neurons and neural circuits in the brain, which control and influence people's behavior and thinking.
Emotions are a very complex physiological activity of human beings, which will constantly change with the living environment and experience of human beings, and different people will have different emotional experiences.
However, in the category of human emotions, it also includes sadness, joy, anger, fear, etc., which are all related.
So, do these emotional experiences also occur in animals?
It is often assumed that animals have limited cognitive abilities and that the emotions they experience are simpler than those of humans.
However, in human cognition, the emotional experience of animals also exists, but different species have different degrees of cognition of emotional experience.
In particular, large mammals like cows have many similarities in their brain structure to that of humans, so their ability to experience emotions is also present.
Studies have shown that animals like cows experience different emotions when they arise in different situations.
For example, cattle are nervous when exposed to strangers or stimuli from an unfamiliar environment, while they feel relaxed when living with their familiar companions.
There are also studies that have found that cattle experience varying degrees of pain when stimulated by pain, suggesting that cattle also experience pain.
So, why do cows cry when they are sent to slaughter?
On the one hand, this may be due to the fact that the cattle are exposed to external stimuli, resulting in excessive tear secretion to protect the eyes.
On the other hand, it may be affected by the environment in which they live, cattle are led to the car, suddenly come into contact with a strange environment, they have lived in the pasture since childhood, in the interaction with humans, the understanding of human behavior is not very thorough, when they are led away, they may feel very nervous and afraid, resulting in excessive tears.
3. Do cows know they are going to be slaughtered?
Will a cow know it's about to be eaten by humans?
In human cognition, it is difficult to judge that cows will know their future fate, but we should not impose human cognition on animals.
The "children's shoe experiment" is often used as a test to judge the cognitive ability of animals.
The method of this type of experiment is mainly to ask the animal to observe its own reflection in front of a mirror, so as to see if the animal is aware of its existence.
In the "Children's Shoe Experiment", scientists usually mark the places on animals that are not easy to detect, and then let them observe them in front of a mirror.
In the process of observation, whether the animal will observe the marked area, and whether they will touch it with some movements, to judge the marked area on their body, to see if the animal can be aware of its own reflexes.
For example, orangutans, as one of the more intelligent creatures in the animal kingdom, have gone through a series of "children's shoe experiments" and found that orangutans touch marked parts of their bodies, but usually touch them with their hands, which may be because they do not know enough about their own bodies, so further research is needed.
Animals like cows also look at themselves in front of the mirror, but it's hard to tell if they look at the marked parts.
However, this type of test method also does not fully explain whether the animal is self-conscious or not.
Because animals have limited cognitive abilities, it is difficult to give specific explanations for the behaviors produced by animals, as is the case with humans.
However, animals may have some cognitive abilities in response to external stimuli.
For example, mammals like cows are familiar with the environment on the livestock farm and are therefore aware that their companions will not return.
And like cattle that are sent to slaughter, they tend to cry on the road, which is also stimulated by the environment, from the environment of the livestock farm to the unfamiliar environment, it is difficult for them to adapt.
Therefore, cattle that have been sent to slaughter, may be aware of their fate to a certain extent, especially their companions who live together, suddenly disappear and they may feel hopeless.
epilogue
Although people are very curious about the phenomenon that cows cry, we should not use "human" thinking to realize what "cows" think, we just need to respect them.
After all, animals may be more complex in terms of cognition and emotion than we think, so we can't define them with simple cognition, what we need to do more is to provide a better living environment for animals, and at the same time, we also need to strengthen the development of animal protection and welfare regulations.