On Fri, 04 Jun 2021 23:17:13 +0100, Fredxx wrote:

On 04/06/2021 22:27, T i m wrote:
On Fri, 04 Jun 2021 15:59:46 -0400, FromTheRafters
wrote:
snip

Well, there are cases of whales consenting to let humans untangle them
from nets.

Of course there are, and loads of other animals 'trusting' humans when
they have had no prior negative contact with them and so reason to.

Trust is instinctive. There is usually some payback for the risk. By way
of example, a robin would frequently fly indoors at work during the
Winter months. The same doesn't happen in Summer.

They may not understand consent from the other creature's
standpoint though.

Again, they obviously do, otherwise millions of mating (assent)
rituals would all be in vein.

It's not obvious, well, maybe in your dreams.

Same with not giving consent (dissent) to attack / kill them with
animals desperately trying to escape the killing box in a
slaughterhouse or gas chambers.

Most animals grown for food are unlikely to understand the concept of
death, so consent is pointless.

Just how can you prove whether an animal knows what death is?

I once saw a video of a wild bird being upset at the death of it's mate.