Just read a preprint for a paper forthcoming in a top 10 philosophy journal that has clearly used AI in much of the writing, if not the idea generation. Very disappointing to see.

Do birds enjoy flying? Cool new research shows evidence of positive affect associated with flying in galahs (an Australian parrot species) doi.org/10.1163/1568...

Our latest paper is out in @cp-trendsecolevo.bsky.social! It’s an overview of the emerging field of wild animal welfare science. 🔗 buff.ly/hcIUr0g See 🧵 for some of the key points we make about the field, as well as opportunities, challenges, and research priorities.

My book on consciousness at Oxford University Press is now available! It is titled House of Mirrors: The Illusion of Phenomenal Consciousness. The (open access) pdf can be downloaded for free on Oxford Academic: academic.oup.com/book/62981 Printed copies should be available at the end of July.

Slightly belated, but I had a great time in London last month attending both the Science for Animal Welfare (@scifaw.bsky.social) Conference and LIFT Cost Action (@liftcostaction.bsky.social) closing workshop. Always great to have a change to discuss animal welfare with like-minded researchers!

New RSPCA Animal Welfare Science Update, featuring research on obesity in pets, breed-specific legislation, killing 'surplus' dairy calves, animal welfare economics, agency in horses, alternatives to animal testing, and impacts of visitor interactions on zoo animals www.rspca.org.au/learn/animal...

Had a great time talking about animal minds with Charlotte Bookham and Claire Hamlett, for the inaugural episode of their 'Animal Culture' podcast open.spotify.com/episode/7gYL...

The most dangerous thing about AI is not that the machines might one day think. It is that we are being trained, by men with enormous financial gains riding on our acquiescence, to stop thinking for ourselves.

Very interesting paper reviewing the psychological research on speciesist attitudes and underlying ideological foundations doi.org/10.1038/s441...

Beyond my book on happiness, I've been working away on /The Routledge Handbook of the Philosophy of Desire/. The volume has 35 entries from many fantastic talented people, on a vast range of topics - wellbeing, decision, action, neuroscience, animals, pleasure, love, economics, AI, and more.

Love this new research showing that mice can discriminate between conspecifics with good and poor welfare (and show a preference for the former as breeding partners). Potentially promising new direction for finding novel welfare indicators, particularly olfactory ones. doi.org/10.1002/zoo....

Adding to the case for insect sentience - new research shows flexible self-protective behaviour in injured crickets doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

A growing body of evidence suggests that cephalopods can experience pain and distress, as described in #BiologicalReviews by @dralexschnell.bsky.social, @zoophilosophy.bsky.social, Andrew Crump, Charlotte Burn, and @birchlse.bsky.social: doi.org/10.1002/brv....

Fascinating new open-access paper from @zoophilosophy.bsky.social argues for mapping species-specific "affect profiles"—moving beyond pain as the default proxy for animal sentience.

Love this idea - 'Creature Connect', using digital technologies to create opportunities for mutually rewarding human-animal interactions in the zoo dl.acm.org/doi/pdf/10.1...

Great review on the validity of abnormal repetitive behaviours as welfare indicators, assessing them against multiple validity tests to show they are (somewhat) robust, and providing potential explanations for observed patterns of failure. doi.org/10.20944/pre...

🌟 2026 UFAW Award Spotlight We are pleased to recognise Dr Heather Browning (Veit) as a joint recipient of the UFAW Early Career Animal Welfare Researcher of the Year Award. 🔗 Read more about the 2026 UFAW Award winners: https://ow.ly/s88450YIPzk #UFAWAwards

My new paper 'Mapping profiles of animal affect' is now out in Biology and Philosophy. In it, I explore why understanding species-specific “affect profiles” matters for animal welfare research, and sketch some possible ways we might begin to map them. Available open access: doi.org/10.1007/s105...

Nooo why would he be called the 'edible' dormouse 😭 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Europea...

Congratulations, Heather. @zoophilosophy.bsky.social

I'm proud and honoured to be one of this year‘s winners

🏆 Announcing the 2026 UFAW Awards Winners 🏆 We are delighted to recognise this year’s UFAW Awards winners for their outstanding achievements and significant contributions to animal welfare science. 🔗 Read more about the 2026 UFAW Awards winners here: https://ow.ly/50v850YGve6 #UFAWAwards

New RSPCA animal welfare science update, featuring research on (among others): cat containment, chickens’ perceptions of humans, separation anxiety in horses, wildlife tourism, and relationships between farmer wellbeing and animal welfare www.rspca.org.au/learn/animal...

"Philosophy of Animal Welfare," a workshop at Duke University, is now accepting abstracts. Topics include which animals should count as welfare subjects, how animal welfare should be measured, managing uncertainty, and more.

Philosophers with an interest in animal welfare - call for abstracts now open for what promises to be a great workshop at Duke University. We welcome any work relating to the nature, measurement, and/or moral significance of animal welfare. Applications close June 1. law.duke.edu/laweconomics...

Omg « NOT ALL NATURAL THINGS ARE GOOD & NOT ALL UNNATURAL THINGS ARE BAD » Louder for the people in the back Merci @zoophilosophy.bsky.social !!

Talk absolument génial du Dr @zoophilosophy.bsky.social sur l’agentivité animale pour @interspecies-io.bsky.social : où l’on apprend que les rats et les chimpanzés aiment aussi s’amuser avec un interrupteur comme Jacquouille dans #LesVisiteurs youtu.be/LGxz_RYSz9I?...

WOOHOO #philsci #phisky #sentience Cocky's celebrating with her fave Angus Young from AC⚡DC impersonation to "Back in Black" - 🎶coz she's refusing to hit the sack🎶, waiting for humans to crack🎶 from the sound of her track🎶 🎶BAU BAU-BAU-BAU BAU-BAU-BAU🎶 BAU-BAU 🎶BAU-BAU BAU-BAU BAU BAU🎶

New study shows that many animals like the same sounds as we do - suggesting a shared aesthetic sense (further evidence that animals' perceptual worlds are an important part of their welfare experience) www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I was part of a discussion on BBC Radio 4 last week about the future of zoos - you can listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I was part of a discussion on BBC Radio 4 last week about the future of zoos - you can listen here: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Lovely review by Kyle Johannsen, of our book 'What Are Zoos For?' journals.uvic.ca/index.php/pi...

I'm sick of people saying that veganism is 'anti-farmer'. Who do they think grows the crops used in plant-based food?

I wrote a new essay responding to Eric Schwitzgebel: Is Diversity Intrinsically Valuable? If you can provide me with better arguments for the existence of intrinsic values I'd be happy to be convinced. walterveit.substack.com/p/is-diversi...

Made an appearance on one of youtube's largest philosophy channels. Joe Folley's Unsolicited Advice. Give it a watch! youtu.be/o1Fusxds1Lk?...

This open access paper in Biological Reviews offers an up-to-date synthesis of the scientific evidence on cephalopod sentience 🐙🦑 It considers 120+ studies using an 8-criterion framework: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... @zoophilosophy.bsky.social @birchlse.bsky.social

Further evidence for the sentience of octopi (and other cephalopods) by @birchlse.bsky.social @zoophilosophy.bsky.social Andrew Crump and Charlotte Burn, using an 8-valued matrix (it seems that one criterion only would be unfair to non-human animals who are so ≠ than us) #AnimalMinds #OtherMinds

Our letter in the Veterinary Record on the future of bovine TB control (it’s over two pages). TLDR: a radical re-think is needed. @markjonesvet.bsky.social @markavery.bsky.social @protectthewild.bsky.social @zoophilosophy.bsky.social @jw132.bsky.social @garethenticott.bsky.social

Interesting argument here, making the Effective Altruism case for research into sustainable and cruelty-free pet diets www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/16...

Exciting funding opportunity for those working to develop human slaughter techniques for fish coefficientgiving.org/funds/farm-a...

For those who missed it, my recent webinar for @interspecies-io.bsky.social is now available to watch online: www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGxz...

I am pleased to announce that I am organizing the annual Ratio conference of our department this year on the topic of animals and philosophy. walterveit.substack.com/p/ratio-annu...

So excited to see this recommendation coming from the Animal Sentience Committee, really hoping it leads to some real change in decapod protection www.gov.uk/government/p...

New video essay - link in first comment

⏰ This Saturday (7 Feb): “Letting Animals Speak” with @zoophilosophy.bsky.social (University of Southampton). How can animal-computer interaction support animal agency and welfare?  📅 5 PM GMT | Online 🔗 https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/HpyXUDk7QSOsH3tyGiHE4A#/registration

Recorded a new episode substack.com/home/post/p-...

New post: walterveit.substack.com/p/panpsychis...

Now available in essay format - link below!

📣 What if animals could help design their own worlds? Join @zoophilosophy.bsky.social for Letting Animals Speak—a lecture on animal agency, ethics & animal-computer interaction. 📅 Feb 7 | Online | Register here: us06web.zoom.us/meeting/regi...