Animals Have Emotions, Tooby Courtney Mroch | More from this Blogger 08 Dec 2008 06:01 PM Some people like to think animals are just animals. They think animals don't think or feel or have emotions. Oh really? If animals didn't have emotions, would they take orphaned animals in and nurture them as their own? Even when they're different species sometimes. Would they cower from thunderstorms or snakes if they didn't feel fear? Would they mourn the loss of their babies or even their people when they die? Would they show signs of depression? Would they smile when they're happy? How could they do any of those things if they didn't have emotions? I get viral emails all the time about creatures demonstrating emotions. The most recent was one from my friend Brenda. The subject line read "Pork Chops." The pictures and story that followed was of a tiger who'd given birth to triplet cubs who had died. Her health started to decline, and, believing she was experiencing depression at the loss of her cubs, the zoo keepers started searching for orphans for her to mother. Trouble was, there were no tiger cub orphans to be found anywhere. But there were piglets. They didn't know if it would work, but the mama tiger needed cubs to nurture and the piglets needed a mama to nurture them. Wrapping them in tiger skin, the zoo keepers put the piglets in with the tiger and crossed their fingers. Success! The mama tiger didn't reject her new babes. Nor did she eat them. She started nursing them and tending to them and a bond was born. Bye bye depression. This wasn't a new story to me. I've heard of other animals slipping into a depression after losing their litters, but coming out of it by nursing orphaned animals. I've also heard of cases where they were nursing their existing litter, happened upon orphans in need, and incorporated them into their litter. It's just one example of animals having emotions. But there are a ton more of them showing happiness, sadness, fear, depression, anger, and compassion. How anyone can believe animals are "just" animals and don't have feelings is beyond me. I think the people who feel that way are the simple ones. Courtney Mroch writes about animals great and small in Pets and the harmony and strife that encompasses married life in Marriage. For a full listing of her articles click here. Related Articles Dementia, Depression, and Therapy Dogs Do Your Pets Have a Sense of Humor? 21 Ways to Make Your Dog Smile Are We As Therapeutic To Them as They Are to Us? Spring Proofing Your Pet: Thunderstorms Watching the Buzzards and the Bunnies Learn more about Courtney Mroch  Courtney Mroch is a wife, a proud pet parent, and a writer. She's been with her husband, high school sweetheart Wayne Pryor, over 20 years, married 11 of those. She's "mom" to Mr. Meow, a.k. Relevantpets tags User Comments  thankful (291) 09 Dec 2008 09:33 AMyes they have emotions. silly to think they dont!most animals take better care and look over there babies and care for them better than some people I know. they have good days and bad days just like we do.Our mastiff Shadow knows if someone is not feeling good or bad ect.. and he watches the other dogs to make sure they arent making trouble or doing something they shouldnt be. THEY ARE FULL OF TRUE EMOTION!!!! we love them for that reason! cathy  Courtney Mroch (9169) 10 Dec 2008 06:56 AMThanks for sharing the story of your mastiff, Cathy! Wonderful! I agree...animals are full of some of the purest emotions out there. I will never understand the people who think they have none. Community Tags animals, emotions, feelings Discuss this article
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