The UK's animal welfare sentience bill has been passed, and this includes octopuses. It means that a committee will consider how government policy decisions take account of their welfare. Octopuses are sentient in the sense of having some level of inner experience and awareness of themselves. For example, an octopus knows the difference between being hungry and searching for food,. The issue of rights is more about our own society and how we want to relate to our own world.
Madeleine Finlay speaks to science correspondent Nicola Davis about why octopuses are more similar to us humans than we might believe. She also hears from Prof David Scheel about our increasing understanding of the sophistication of these cephalopods, and how that should influence our treatment of them. Help support our independent journalism at
theguardian.com/sciencepod