Cowed by facts?

I wonder if Fordyce Maxwell has actually read Rosamund Young’s book The Secret Lives of Cows, or has just read some reviews (Comment, 18 December). Ms Young’s book is the product of years of close observation of the animals reared on her parents’ farm, and, subsequently, on her own organic farm.

She describes, in a completely unsentimental way, how satisfying it is to see those animals as individuals, rather than as potential cuts of beef or milk machines.

In fact, her observations have scientific backing. The main differences between human and animal brains lie in the frontal lobes, whose functions allow humans to reason and to plan for the future. Cows don’t have to check the retail index or worry about interest rates falling; they live in the moment. However, sophisticated brain-imaging techniques have demonstrated that humans form emotions in the same “primitive” parts of the brain, like the limbic system, that we share with all mammals, including cows.

Animal consciousness is therefore now thought to be surprisingly similar to our own. Signs of grief after a death, or certainly a concerned awareness of the death, is common in many nonhumanspecies. Werecognise these signs not because we’re projecting our own feelings on to the animal, but because they are a universally recognisable response to death.

A cow may not have the capacity to write a book documenting her feelings, but she will react in similar ways to humans when frightened, angry or depressed. CAROLYN TAYLOR

Wellbank Broughty Ferry, Dundee