The Capabilities Approach to Animals

With animals we need a list that identifies the central activities in each animals life and asks how well it's doing in access to those characteristic activities. Animals who are treated pretty well and don't feel pain might still be deprived of freedom to move around over a large space because they've never known it. Some animals have abilities that we humans totally lack. Birds can navigate all over the globe by perceiving magnetic fields, dolphins can tell what's inside an object by their capacity for echolocation. There's absolutely no reason why the preferences of animals shouldn't be taken into account when laws are made.