Articles

Do Animals Have Feelings?

By Sandy Kamen Wisniewski
Posted October 01, 2007

About a year ago I was driving my van down Route 83 in Buffalo Grove listening to the radio. A news report came on claiming that a study had recently proven that "animals do have emotions." I laughed out loud. That was the silliest thing I had ever heard. What a waste of money. Anyone who spent any amount of time with animals knows they have feelings.

People have shared with me many stories of their pets displaying emotions. There are dogs that experience severe anxiety when their owners leave their sight, barking uncontrollably and damaging furniture, draperies and the like, as they fling themselves about in despair. There is no doubt that the dog is missing their owner. Many times when a pet dies a surviving pet from the same household mourns the loss, showing little interest in playtime or food.

My own pets reveal their feelings to me on an ongoing basis. When I leave home my dogs' tails hang low and their eyes look sad at my departing and they wag their tails and jump up and down with joy upon my return. When I grab the leashes to take my dogs for a walk they dance around as if to say, "Yippy, we're going for an adventure!" My cat Toby is still sulking after a minor confrontation he had with our dog Shrek. He still looks at Shrek with disgust and contempt whenever Shrek passes by. My cockatiel Buddy loves perching on my shoulder. When he sits there he likes to belts out the theme song from The Andy Griffith Show. When I whistle along with him he sings with even more gusto thrilled to have someone singing along with him.

Were animals to be robot-like I doubt any of us would own pets or be advocates for any species of animal at all. Really it's the joy and satisfaction we experience from their unique personalities and their equally unique feelings that keep people including pets as members of their family.