Animals can think and plan and feel happiness and pain, despite what anyone says. This should be taken into account when governments make laws that affect animals. The international organisation World Animal Protection views animal sentience recognition as so important it’s the first indicator in its Animal Protection Index, which ranks countries on the basis of their legal and policy commitments to animals. The European Union first recognised animal sentience in 1997 in the Treaty of Amsterdam. It was recognised by New Zealand in 2015 in its Animal Welfare Act, and by Quebec in a 2015 amendment to its Civil Code. There should be more legislation in all countries to respect the fact that animals are sentient beings. It should be taken into account every time we make a law in the future. It could even be put into our constitutions if people agree that it should be there.