From Guy Inchbald, Upton on Severn, Worcestershire, UK
It is a mistake to suggest that, just because animals may not necessarily have our kind of intelligence and consciousness, they therefore don’t have it (Letters, 1 May). Creatures as disparate as the day octopus, manta rays, corvids and great apes all have the necessary neural substrates to support cognitive processes and all display cognitive behaviours.
The case to be answered is that the many similarities between cognitive creatures in fact do demonstrate common sentience.
