DO ANIMALS HAVE FEELINGS?
I am so pleased to be writing weekly for #BeComplete. It encompasses so much of my life values and beliefs. My articles will be all about our furry friends. My Company, Naturally Animals, empowers owners to understand what their animals (of all species) need to be both physically, emotionally and spiritually healthy.
Do you believe that animals experience the same emotions as humans? If they do, how would this change how you look after them?
We are often taught in school / society and surprisingly in University that animals do not have the same feelings as humans. Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human form or other characteristics to beings other than humans, particularly animals. If we accept that animals do experience the same emotions as humans do you then accept that this renders them worthy of the same levels of moral care as humans?
Did you know that the part of a cetacean (whales, dolphins and porpoises) brain responsible for emotions and memory formation is more complex than that of humans? Imagine the implications of that! Many other animals, such as elephants and the great apes, also have amazingly developed limbic regions of the brain (the area responsible for emotions and the formation of memories). The scientific evidence is there to suggest cetaceans (and many other species) have the ability to feel emotions, and communicate in ways we humans are unable to imagine (except in Sci-Fi movies) for some reason we humans don’t often value this.
As a Scientist, but more importantly as an animal therapist, animal communicator (more about that in a later blog) and an animal owner, there is NO DOUBT at all in my mind that animals clearly feel the same emotions as humans. So if they do:
- How do you think animals feel when queuing to go into a slaughterhouse?
- How does a rabbit feel when it spends its whole life in a cage, often looking out on grass (its natural food) that it can’t reach?
- How do you think a dog feels when it is left on its own all day, or a horse (a herd animal) locked in a stable all day?
- How does a dolphin feel living its whole life in a large bathtub being made to do tricks all day for its feed?
So today, I ask you to have a look at any animals in your care / environment and really look at the world through their eyes. You only need to make a simple change today to make their life a little easier. Try it and just see the animal’s response! The great thing is there is lots of help out there, for those wanting to learn more and we are here to help!
Ref: human-intelligence-versus-whales-and-dolphins
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