I suspect they are much smarter than we give them credit for.

It is also why I feel commercial whaling (or in Japan's case "scientific research") is such a horrific thing to do.

Then you should be horrified by the way pigs are being held. They are very smart.

You’re not wrong- if someone treated their dog the way pigs are treated they would be immediately thrown in prison. It’s a double standard.

with that said, I suppose you don't eat pig or cow products?

I agree that we should all eat less meat and the way we treat "factory" animals is cruel. But with that said, would you really argue hunting chimpanzees is the same as killing pigs?

My point is, it's not wrong to apply different standards for different animals. GP says they feel whaling is wrong because they relate more to whales than they do with cows or pigs. If GP sees news articles on how cows are actively saving other helpless animals from getting hunted, maybe they'll start applying similar standards to cows too. You may find this illogical and annoying, but bringing up cows and pigs in this way is not constructive in my opinion.

I do eat pig and cow products. Damn, I guess I'm a hypocrite. You caught me. Congrats on winning an internet argument.

Or octopus.

Japanese commercial whaling doesn't target humpback whales.

Not much reason to believe the rest of the whale species are dumb.

Humpback whales have mirror neurons (the ones implicated in "theory of mind") so they might show "compassion". There is so much we still do not know about marine mammals...