DAILY RECORD (Glasgow, UK) 07 January 11 Sheriff orders probe into whether snakes feel pain ahead of cruelty trial (Jamie Beatson)
A Sheriff has demanded to know if snakes feel pain - before trying a man accused of cruelty to his pet boa constrictor.
Kevin Kibble, 30, is charged with causing unnecessary suf fer ing to the snake by failing to provide care, leading to its death.
He claims he had arranged for the snake to be cared for by a neighbour while he served a jail term.
But at a pre-trial hearing at Cupar Sheriff Court yesterday, Sheriff Charlie McNair put off the case to get information on snakes' ability to feel pain.
He said: "I want to know if a snake is capable of suffering. There may be something on the statute about this but I haven't looked."
Kibble, from Springfield, Fife, will return to court for trial later this month.
Edinburgh Butterfly and Insect World reptile keeper Vicky Allen said last night that she believes snakes do feel pain and suffering.
She said: "They react to everything from being kept in an incorrect environment to being squeezed too tightly."
Sheriff orders probe into whether snakes feel pain ahead of cruelty trial
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GBR Press: Trial - Snakes feel pain?
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The basics of animal welfare are:
1. freedom from hunger, thirst, and malnutrition
2. freedom from physical and thermal discomfort
3. freedom from pain, injury, and disease
4. freedom to express normal behaviour
5. freedom from fear and distress
Animal welfare argues that it is morally acceptable for humans to use animals, provided that the adverse effects on animal welfare are minimized as far as possible, short of not using the animals at all.
Animal cruelty laws usually encompass all five freedoms, and a violation of one or more freedoms is enough to trigger an animal cruelty investigation.
