Do animals experience emotions? Of course they do, and solid science, combined with countless stories, show this to be so. It is bad science to rob animals of their feelings. When someone tells me they are not sure if dogs, for example, experience joy or grief, I say I'm glad I'm not your dog.
This week's picture of Gana, the 11-year-old gorilla shown grieving the loss of her infant, was one of the most poignant images I have ever seen of an animal in distress.
It's sad but true that humans have been so cruelly over-confident to think that animals don't have feelings. The Telegraph article continues:
Since we already know so much about the emotional lives of diverse species, arguments to the contrary are often excuses to retain the status quo – in other words, human superiority.
The real question is why emotions have evolved, not if they have evolved.
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