Ronald G. Oldfield, senior instructor of biology, published an article, titled “You Can’t Betray a Fish: One Reason Eating Fish May Cause Less Harm Than Eating Cows,” for the Journal of Animal Ethics on March 22, 2022, with a response article from New York Times Bestselling Author Jonathan Balcombe.

In his article, Oldfield argues that both typical farmed animals (mammals) and fish are cognitively capable of experiencing betrayal, but that the manner in which fish are typically kept does not facilitate human-fish trust relationships.

Balcombe responded arguing that fish might experience betrayal on small fish farms and that most people could simply choose not to eat fish or other animals.

Both articles can be found here.

Balcombe is the author of the New York Times Bestseller What a Fish Knows: The Inner Lives of Our Underwater Cousins

His latest book is Super Fly: The Unexpected Lives of the World’s Most Successful Insects.

“The day we got Sparky.” – In Dr. Oldfield’s article, he discusses his pet goat, Sparky, pictured here.”