I have always figured that animals must have some sort of emotion level, as it says in the article, its bad biology to disagree with this claim.

S+F OP, Thanks for bring this info to light, its good to see

It is a long time coming that we so called intelligent humans recognize our place among all life on this plane.
All are connected..
It is human pride and ego that has allowed us to enslave life on this planet.
It is a shame- we will regret to our own demise.

This is still a sweet thread.
It's not my fault you do not understand what your a kin to.

Wow thanks for this.

I just really hope to see a video of this amazing scene.

Originally posted by Wallachian
That was very touching, thank you for posting this! Not that i would have actually needed any more proof that animals have emotions, i have been convinced of that all my life.

Speaking of magpies, those are really smart birds. And they do care about each other, i once saved a young magpie that had been cornered by my cat in the garden. What alerted me were two adult magpies circling the house constantly and making hellish noises. And that, for about half an hour, non stop. Luckily i figured it out in time and saved the day (and the magpie).

You guys have some strange magpies.. They almost look safe and cute !!

Unlike our swooping eyegobblers! These bugger are nasty when protecting their eggs. But I've also seen them show curiosity at what us silly earth bound morons do. Like Crows I believe these birds are very intelligent. But why would they need to be intelligent our way? Definitely they show emotion towards their own kind.

How can anyone doubt that a lot of animals feel emotions?

I see one very often - my cats - if they ever jump and miss, or do something stupid and lose their balance - they will absolutely look embarrassed.

My little cat came through the kitchen the other day, and my dad nearly stepped on her.

She didn't just jump out of the way, she crouched back, and she GLARED at him. "How DARE you!"

Originally posted by Ha`la`tha

You guys have some strange magpies.. They almost look safe and cute !!

Unlike our swooping eyegobblers! These bugger are nasty when protecting their eggs.

I have no doubt they can be as mean as they can be intelligent. But they're pretty nonetheless, no? And looking at that picture, you can definitely see intelligence in their eyes (and a little malevolence )

I have to say, i don't remember an ats thread in which everybody agrees to something and two or more factions don't fight over the subject. This must be a first. Well done ats!

Its mostly those people who have been brainwashed and programmed to believe that animals have no emotions and spirit who fight against the idea, especially those retarded religious people. No offense to any religious person, just saying the truth of what the church teaches.

Sri Aurobindo already said "Life is life - whether in a cat, or dog or man. There is no difference there between a cat or a man. The idea of difference is a human conception for man's own advantage.".

Scientists have previously discounted opinions of those who claim animals feel emotions as overly anthropomorphic

What kind of scientist are these? Anyone that is around animals, knows they do have emotions. My miniature Dachshund will cry with tears if she feels she's not getting your attention. A female dog with pups will whine over one that is dead and look for one that she can't find.

Of course animals have emotions, and why wouldn't they? I'm a Christian and there's nothing against the Holy Bible claiming animals have emotions. It only says they have a spirit and not a soul.


[edit on 29-10-2009 by TruthSeeker8300]

If you are a perceptive person you have no trouble discerning how an animal; especially one you know well, like a pet, is feeling.

Any pet owner will tell you that animals can certainly read our feelings. I swear sometimes they can read your mind too.

Its we humans that are the ones who sometimes can't cross the communication barrier.

I am going to go you guys one better. I "care" about how my plants "feel" too.

I am totally serious, but I guess that's another topic.

We've just "rescued" a cat from the cattery, not because we needed a cat (we have two siblings already) bbut because she used to be their foster mother and she had been there for more than a year.

Anyway - we were told, that she has a bit of a temper and she sure has.

Try to pet her and she turns nasty after a couple of second. WHAM! five claws and some teeth in your hand.
She comes and brushes against you. Purrs. Wants to be made a fuss of. You stroke her gently on the head. 10 seconds later. WHAM! five claws...

But she is the first animal I have ever seen that has shown some sort of after thought.

The second day she was with us, she sat on the table. Purred. So I thought I'd pet her for a couple of seconds (within the "safe time" so to speak).
She pulled back a step and turned to leave. But then she turned back, took a step forward, bit me and turned away and left.

It was very much like "I'll pull back...OH! I forgot to bite him...I'd better do that and *then* leave".

She has been with us for four days now and she still hisses, bites abnd scrathes you when you overdo your petting. But the time is now up to about 10 seconds.

Great post, S&F.

National Geographic and independent film maker did a documentary on Elephants of the Kalahari I believe or was it the Sahara? Can't remember off hand, but these Elephants had traveled hundreds of miles looking for food and water, especially water, and an old one could go no further and went into a small brush patch and died. The herd stayed there for two days and then moved on.

They came back a half year later to the site and all the bones were there, they would gracefully walk around the bones and over the bones and some, the older ones, would pick them up and caress themselves with the bones. You could actually see tears running down the cheeks of these Elephants, it was incredible to watch, the narrator too was taken by it. They would put the bones back and gently caress and smell the bones. The younger Elephants watched but did not do the same thing, hierarchy? The Elephants came back every 6 months or so for years.

For those scientists/biologist that don't believe that animals feel the same emotion, your educated beyond your intelligence, it has always been that way and will always be that way, even a tree weeps, flowers wilt, they open to the sun and exhibit bright colors to attract bees to pollinate like species, a good example of living plants is the Venus Fly Trap. Go figure.

Native peoples believe their soul goes into animals when they die, I have envisioned being a hawk when my soul leaves my body.

Anyone who has ever seen a dog that has lost it's life long companion (another dog for example) know that animals have emotions.

Sure many will try to dismiss what I just said but you should have seen it with your own eyes. It was pure unadulterated pain going through that animal from the loss of it's friend. It doesn't take a biologist to recognize it.

(Unrelated dog story) A friend of mine had a dog that after it's mate died, chewed off it's own tail.

[edit on 29-10-2009 by DaMod]

This was a touching thread.

Chimps and other animals are far more intelligent than we often give them credit for.

In regards to magpies and other birds, has anybody ever heard of an animal court. I read about it in a book once. Certain birds....i think maybe crows have been observed standing in a circle around another crow and chirping or seeming to "talk."

Anyway in these cases they end up coming to some decision and the central bird is killed.

I respect animals not humans. This reminds me of when my Rottweiler died, My other dog and cat were both well aware of her passing and showed it.

[edit on 29-10-2009 by colt122]