The Emotional Lives of Animals and Why They Matter

We like to see ourselves as special, but whatever the difference between humans and animals may be, it is unlikely to be found in the emotional domain. — Frans de Waal, “Your Dog Feels as Guilty as She Looks”. I have learned that anthropomorphism is a deeply suspect word, used to defend cruelty to creatures unable to speak and defend themselves against human exploitation. — Sir Brian May, founding member of Queen and the Save Me Trust. In the past two decades there has been an explosion of comparative studies centering on the emotional lives and sentience of a wide array of nonhuman animals (animals). ….[READ]