If I suggested that factory farms produce happy animals then I apologize. I tried to assert that animals can be raised by humans in a way that leads to a well being equal to, if not better than, what they would experience naturally. Whether or not that is realized in practice is a case by case argument.

I have interacted with large mammals since young in my childhood and anecdotally my experiences with certain animals like Bison, elephants, elk have convinced me that I can’t even begin to understand the complexities of such creatures. I’ve seen elephants suffer ptsd, Bison commit homicides and other just completely unbelievable experiences from those creatures. But each time the hint of psychosis that I’ve witnessed always seemed unique to that species. Bison for the example have incredible herd intelligence but individual intelligence is on par with a sheep.

All of which has humbled me as a person and convinced me of how little we understand of their consciousness. All I know is it’s not human, sure I can empathize with certain emotions but how exactly a creature is processing that is entirely unknown.

And you’re right, pain is by far the easiest to empathize with however to the degree to which an animal intensifies it’s pain again is unknown. I personally empathize the most with the emotional pain between mammalian mothers and infants. That seems the most closely understandable.