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Do animals have emotions?

A teacher brought up the conversation not long ago, and said 'Animals dont have emotions, they do things for food..'
Now this is a lady, owns two dogs and a cat.
I argued with her (and nearly caught myself a detention) because:

1. If animals only show affection towards us because they know we give them food, then why do they protect us when we are in danger?
and why do they grieve over the friends they have lost?

Please tell me im right in thinking they do have emotions...
 
I think they do. I think a binky shows that, and grieving for a lost friend.

They don't have them in the same way we do, but they have some emotional experiences, for sure.
 
OF COURSE THEY DO:roll: ours show happiness ,when they get fed....annoyance , about me hoovering:roll: etc
if thats not showing emotion what is?:?:roll:
 
I definitely think they have "feelings", and that they do have emotions in some sort of way..

I saw an amazing thing where some zoologists proved that chimps have, and can recognise, emotions. It was really incredible:)
 
OF COURSE THEY DO:roll: ours show happiness ,when they get fed....annoyance , about me hoovering:roll: etc
if thats not showing emotion what is?:?:roll:

Exactly!!
She made it sound like they were robots, and i think she even said 'They basically eat and drink... thats all they care about'
i'd of carried on arguing, but the fact that there was a detention on sale made me shut up!
 
I think they do. I think a binky shows that, and grieving for a lost friend.

They don't have them in the same way we do, but they have some emotional experiences, for sure.

i think i might bring these points up again, even if i do get a detention...
Thanks guys:wave:
 
Course they do. Perhaps not as developed and complex as adult emotions... I reckon their like small children in terms of their emotions.
 
I completely agree that they do have emotions.

All animals do! Happy, Sad, Angry, they may not show it the way we do but they still have them
 
Animals are mammals. So are we. They have the same sort of pain and pleasure centers in brain as us (we have much bigger cerbral cortex of course). Emotions are centered on the more primitive parts of the brain - since our brains function in the same way it is reasonable to assume they feel emotions. I'm trying to remember all this from a book by Temple Granger called something like: How to make animals happy - I think that is the gist of it :)
 
of course they do. they aren't robots. like someone else said, i imagine their emotions are like a young child. not as complex as ours.
 
What a fool :roll: It's not even a debate- of COURSE they do. There's vast evidence to support it- and it's obvious! Why do we think we're so superior to every other being?
 
I think things like rabbits certainly do, even goldfish have been known to be able to recognise their owners. I had the same argument with someone not that long ago and said to him that many many animals are very clearly capable of distress and fear that much is well documented. I can't see why they wouldn't be capable of other emotions as well (at the other end of the scale hopefully).

What else is a binky if not an expression of happiness? It's a total waste of energy and it's not like it's being used as a signal to other rabbits or a means of getting food. Honey was doing mad wee binkies today actually then looked sort of shocked like she couldn't believe she'd be so undignified.:lol:
 
Fear is an emotion - animals get scared. Happiness is an emotion - my animals show me this everyday.

My pair are attached to each other and love each other - they show this in ways that are completely unrelated to food or any other form of 'reward' ie Muesli will groom Starbuck's eyes even though he hardly ever gets any grooming back.

etc etc.

Your teacher is wrong, sorry.
 
i believe they do, maybe in different ways to us, but they still have emotions, my first therapist tried to go over my views and said they don;t we just humanise them, but she wasn't an animal lover anyway soo how would she understand, my new psychologist believes they do too, as she has cats
 
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