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Vertebrates have feelings - Britain now wants to enshrine this in law
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They can feel joy, endure pain and suffering: the fact that animals have feelings is no longer controversial.
Now this fact is to be legally recognized in Great Britain.
This is what the Conservative Environment Minister George Eustice said in an interview with the Sunday Telegraph newspaper.
Queen Elizabeth II will announce a corresponding law in her traditional government statement on Tuesday.
It is all about vertebrates, however - "anyone who has a spinal cord," as Eustice said.
In the bill, they are said to have "sentience," that is, they emphasize that they are aware of their feelings and emotions.
An existing committee in the Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will ensure that this is reflected in government policies, Eustice said.
Johnson government plans a number of animal welfare measures
The advance from Great Britain comes comparatively late: the EU recognized years ago that animals are sentient, sentient beings.
The Lisbon Treaty, for example, which came into force in 2009, states that the EU and its member states must take animal welfare requirements into account when formulating or implementing policies in the areas of agriculture, fisheries, transport, the internal market, research and technological development and space.
Of course, opinions differ as to how far this requirement is met.
In the case of farm animals in particular, consideration for their feelings is often not far off, critics speak of state-permitted cruelty to animals.
In the UK, the new law is intended to be part of a comprehensive strategy the government is using to raise animal welfare standards.
Further bills are to prohibit the import of hunting trophies, as well as the export of live animals and the keeping of primates as pets, according to the Sunday Telegraph.
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In addition, the British government is planning a ban on fur imports and microchips in domestic cats.
The killing of pigs by gasification with carbon dioxide should also be stopped.
The penalties for cruelty to animals should increase from six months to a maximum of five years in prison.
Minister Eustice called the project an "important signal to the world".
Boris Johnson is the first Prime Minister to anchor animal welfare in government policy.
Critics believe, however, that Johnson campaigns for animal rights primarily because of the personal views of his fiancée Carrie Symmonds.
Eustice said Symmonds was just as "passionate" about the subject as Johnson or himself.
sos / dpa