Do animals have feelings?

It is fun to look at your pet dog running towards you ‘in joy’ the moment you come back from school. But is it correct to assume that your dog is ‘feeling’ happy to receive you? Do animals experience emotions such as happiness, grief, anger, fear, empathy and contempt? Well, animal emotion is a complicated arena. Some scientists believe that they do have feelings, while others are sceptical about the whole idea.

Certain brain cells called spindle are responsible for thought, feelings and social behaviour in humans. Chimpanzees, dolphins and whales too have these cells in their brain. However, even animals that don’t have spindle cells, such as dogs, show human-like behaviours.

In the wild, chimpanzees and whales have demonstrated ‘altruism’ by helping other animals without expecting a reward. Chimps, elephants, dolphins and otters have been observed to mourn their dead. Many animals have been observed to engage in ‘play’.

Scientists have shown in lab tests that rats may be able to ‘laugh’. When tickled, they seem to make ultrasonic chirps that can be compared to human ‘laughter’. MRI and fMRI scans done on dogs have shown that the dog brain reacted the same way as the human brain when exposed to voices and emotionally charged sounds, such as crying and laughter. All these observations seem to suggest that animals have feelings.

However, sceptics say that comparing animal behaviour with human feelings is not justified. The notion that animals have feelings comes from our tendency to attribute human emotions to animals (anthropomorphism), they say. Due to a lack of concrete scientific evidence, the argument that animals experience emotions stands rejected.

 

Picture Credit : Google