What does animal protection depend on? How do we value different forms of life?
When we interact with animals, we don’t always start from the same place. For some people, caring for and protecting animals is part of their values and life philosophy; for others, animal rights are key to protecting ecosystems; but there are also many people who haven’t even questioned whether animals are sentient. That’s why, in this article, we invite you to ask yourself why we tend to protect animals we consider “intelligent” more than others, and to explore a fundamental idea: every form of life deserves respect, regardless of how much it resembles our own.
One way to explore this issue has been through information about initiatives to ban octopus farms in Latin America—undoubtedly an opportunity for learning and deep reflection—because when we discuss this topic with people who aren’t very familiar with the animal rights movement, the most common response is usually: “How sad—especially since octopuses are so intelligent.”
And of course, for anyone who has seen the documentary *My Teacher the Octopus*, it’s clear that these octopus species can open jars, change color in seconds, and plan incredible escapes. But when we say they shouldn’t be raised on farms just because they’re intelligent, we’re revealing something deeper: we continue to measure the right to life according to our own human standards—from an anthropocentric perspective.
See also: When Our Actions Don't Match Our Beliefs: Let's Talk About Cognitive Dissonance
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The Domino Effect: Chile, Mexico, and the World
We are facing a global wave of regulation aimed at protecting these animals before it is too late. As a pioneer, Chile set a milestone in October 2025 by introducing a motion in the Chamber of Deputies to ban the industrial farming of cephalopods, becoming the first country in Latin America to take steps toward preventive legislation. Following in Chile’s footsteps, on February 25, 2026, a bill was introduced in the Mexican Senate to ban, at the federal level, the breeding and fattening of octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish in captivity. This measure not only protects the animals but also coastal communities, since currently 100% of the octopus consumed in Mexico comes from artisanal fisheries. Adding to this landscape is a setback in Spain, where the high-profile project by the company Nueva Pescanova to open the first commercial farm in the Canary Islands was rejected by authorities after they concluded that it posed significant environmental risks. Finally, England joined this trend with a historic recognition by amending its animal welfare laws to formally classify cephalopods as sentient beings, based on evidence that they experience pain and distress.
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The Harsh Reality of Captivity
To understand why it is so urgent to put a stop to these farms, we don’t need to look at hypothetical scenarios; it is enough to analyze the data from the research facilities in Sisal, Yucatán (Mexico), which have been trying for more than 12 years to make octopus aquaculture viable. The numbers show that confinement is torture for them: mortality rates in captivity exceed an alarming 52%, and 30% of these deaths are attributable to cannibalism directly caused by the stress of confinement (Aquatic Animal Alliance, 2025). Added to this, from an ecological standpoint, it represents a true disaster, since approximately three kilograms of wild fish are required to produce a single kilogram of octopus. Finally, this critical situation is compounded by an insurmountable ethical problem today, as there are no validated humane slaughter methods for octopuses; therefore, the industrialization of their consumption is not possible from an animal welfare perspective.
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An Ecological Ethic Beyond Intelligence
The progress of these laws is based not only on wonder, but on hard science. As reaffirmed by the recent New York Declaration on Animal Consciousness (2024), there is a scientific consensus that cephalopods are sentient beings, capable of experiencing pain, fear, or pleasure.
However, if we continue to justify the protection of an animal based solely on its cognitive intellect, we run the risk of creating a hierarchy of “valuable” lives versus “disposable” lives. We are amazed by the octopus, but what about fish, shrimp, or chickens, whose intelligence is different or less visible to us?
The debate over octopus farms is a perfect opportunity to rethink our ethics. Let’s stop protecting only the species we admire or that can solve puzzles, and start doing so out of simple justice and consistency. Octopuses silently remind us that there are countless ways of perceiving and existing. Perhaps the real question isn’t how intelligent animals are, but how wise and empathetic we want to be in order to learn to live in respect and harmony with them.
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Turning this profound reflection into concrete actions is the first step toward building a more compassionate world. If you’d like to learn more about the Pulpos Libres in Mexico, Chile, and Peru, we invite you to sign the petitions to ban these practices.
