Heart pounding, sweaty hands gripping the steering wheel, I drove as nonchalantly as I could down the quiet country lane, all the while glancing nervously in the rear-view mirror to ensure no one was behind me.
Then, with the coast clear, I did something I have never done before I lowered the window and threw out the packaging from a takeaway meal.
Looking back as I drove off, I saw an empty drink cup bounce on the road a couple of times before settling into the grassy verge. A greasy chip carton landed nearby.
And just like that I had joined the selfish band of UK drivers who think nothing of littering our beautiful countryside. Not for them the imposition of taking their rubbish home or pulling into a service station to find a bin.
Is an elephant a person? Most people would give you a straightforward no to that question. But New York s highest court will soon hear arguments from campaigners that Happy, a 50-year- old female Asian elephant at Bronx Zoo, should be given some of the rights of a legal person.
The campaigners don t think that Happy should be living alone in a zoo. And they are using scientific research that shows elephants have complex minds and emotions. After all, Happy has recognised herself in a mirror, becoming the first elephant to do so.
We will be hearing many more such stories in the coming months and years.
Boris Johnson has been warned that a new law recognising animal sentience could be hijacked by campaigners to try to outlaw field sports – as well as embroiling Ministers in a sensitive row about religious slaughter techniques.
The Animal Sentience Bill in last week s Queen s Speech established an Animal Sentience Commission to ensure that all government departments ensure that their future measures and policies do not have an adverse effect on animal welfare as sentient beings .
It is likely to raise thorny issues about which animals are covered: it says that any new legislation will have to take into account the fact that vertebrate animals can experience feelings and emotions such as pain or joy.
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