The ability to know things and reason with that knowledge is absolutely present in animals like cows and pigs. Ill choose a relevant example cows have to get pregnant to produce milk and when they do their children are taken away from them. This is obviously very distressing. As this continues cows get more distressed by their children being taken away knowing they are not coming back furthermore when allowed adequate room to do so they will try to protect their children from farmers trying to take them away. They know something( I have just given birth and this is my child, all my other children were taken away by these farmers ergo I must protect my new child being taken away by these farmers) this seems to fit your definition of sapience and is just once example of many