Selected studies.
These sources help explain why animals deserve moral consideration and why reducing harm to them is a meaningful expression of compassion.
Toward a Cross-Species Understanding of Empathy
Even Rodents Feel Each Other's Fear — Empathy Across Species
Bridging the Gap: Human Emotions and Animal Emotions
The Emotional Lives of Animals Are Not So Different From Our Own
Cross-Species Affective Neuroscience Decoding of the Primal Affective Experiences of Humans and Related Animals
Jaak Panksepp: Animals and Humans Share the Same Emotional Brain
Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness
Cambridge Declaration on Consciousness: Animals Are Conscious Beings