Response to Anthropomorphism Question

I’m sure you can guess what I think…that animals aren’t capable of higher thought. However, that doesn’t mean that they aren’t sensitive to pain, pleasure, fear or security.

I do think that Darwin’s speculation that “dogs in their old age might remember a particularly pleasurable chase and reflect on it. Or that a group of cows might just feel the loss of a herd member” is highly unlikely; every dog or horse trainer will tell you that when punishing after the animal acts out, you must swat or scold within three seconds of what occurred – otherwise they won’t remember and won’t understand why they’re being punished. As the article stated, even science says that they’re unable to think on a deep level and reminisce or recall something from the past. I think animals may have ‘emotions’ on their own level – such as horses getting depressed when isolated, etc. – but I don’t think they translate to the level of human emotion.

Bellcanto