But according to the Government, we’re all making a big fuss over nothing. Several Tory MPs argued during the debate that rejecting the concept of animal sentience will actually be better for animals in the long run, and allow us to introduce our own animal welfare laws.

“We in this country are, of course, well known throughout Europe as a nation of animal lovers,” said Edward Leigh, the Tory MP for Gainsborough in Lincolnshire (who is, incidentally, such an animal lover himself that he has repeatedly voted against the hunting ban and in favour of selling off England’s forests). He advised Lucas to focus her efforts on “ensuring that in our own laws we have the best animal welfare protection in the world”, rather than trying to incorporate EU laws into post-Brexit legislation.

In addition, the Government insisted that animal sentience is actually already covered by a piece of British-born legislation, the Animal Welfare Act 2006. But this defence has been dismissed by critics as deliberately misleading, with the RSCPA noting that the act only covers pets – not wild animals or those kept in laboratories.

“To the Tory MPs who say animals can’t feel pain: you should be ashamed”