I’ll be taking a university course about cognition in animals in a few days, and as far as I understand, the topic of it will be whether animals have cognition or not, and how it differs from humans’. Anyhow, I’ve already found proof that they are conscious.
the primatologist Frans de Waal has written a number of good books on the intellectual, emotional, and moral lives of animals, drawn from his decades of studying bonobo and chimpanzee populations. his most recent book is called Mama’s Last Hug, which i definitely recommend if it’s not already on your syllabus.