Do Animals Have Emotions and Feelings?

QUESTION

Essay’s Topic is “Do animals have emotions and feelings?”

1. Follow the correct format:
   1. 1 inch margins from all sides
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   3. Double spaced
   4. 2-3 references with in-text citations
   5. Other requirements of APA citation style (pay attention to correct referencing).
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   4. Confused thoughts and ideas – it is important that your writing is easily understandable and ‘user-friendly‘. Whatever is the topic of your writing, it should be easy for reading. Avoid complicacy and rather simplify your thoughts.

ANSWER

Do Animals Have Emotions and Feelings?

Introduction

The world we live in is full of animals of different species and physical appearance. The biodiversity in our world offers an opportunity to learn important lessons on the importance of animals in our lives and the benefits that we can reap from conserving biodiversity. Human beings have been living with animals since the ancient ages, resulting in the domestication of many animal species. The domestic animals that we have in our homes today, including those that we keep as pets, were once wild animals. There are several advantages to keeping domestic animals, benefits such as the production of milk, eggs, wool, and other products. We use pets as a source of company, even as symbols of prestige. Does the way we treat these animals matter? Of course, it does. Animals, just like human beings have feelings and emotions.

Anyone who has ever owned a pet, say a dog or a cat, knows that these animals get agitated and restless whenever they sense danger (Panksepp, 2005). A dog will not rest or even continue taking his meal if he senses movement that is not normal around his kernel. This shows that the animal experiences a feeling of fear and anxiety, the feeling of fear and apprehension about what is to come. The dog will respond by barking or making sounds of agony, to try and scare away the threat and notify its owner of imminent danger (Bekoff, 2010). When the owner of the dog returns from a journey to feed the dog, the dog gets excited and keeps wagging its tail and rubbing its body against the legs of its owner. This behavior is a display of the feeling of joy, happiness, and comfort. The dog or even a cat is happy to be fed and cared for.

Human beings are mammals. Evolution theory suggests that human beings were once ‘primitive’ animals. Through science, especially the branch referred to as neuroscience, we are able to identify that all mammal brains are similar in terms of the overall organization and functionality. If we were arguing about the functionality of a human being that we do not personally know, we use the hypothesis that the person has a mind which functions similar to ours in order to explain their behavior (Barrett, 2017). We are aware of how the brain makes the mind, which is a common trait in mammals. Mammals usually reason to determine the best course of action, be it running away from danger or where to take a rest. The brain of a human being controls emotions and feelings (Barrett, 2017). Therefore, the brains of other mammals (cows, cats, dogs etc.) also experience and control emotions and feelings.

Skeptics argue that animals do not have experience in complexities such as culture, social norms, and language to develop emotions or feelings such as those experienced by human beings. It is true that animals live a simple life compared to the life that human beings live. However, basic emotions and feelings such as anger, happiness, excitement, and sadness do not need to be learnt or instilled through culture or language. An animal does not need to culturally or linguistically appraise a situation in order to feel sad or happy. The body of an animal is ‘wired’ in a way that it is able to appreciate the meeting of its goals, such as safety or food, in a way that is non-verbal (Bekoff, 2010). The brain has to experience a certain feeling in order to control an action of the body. Some animals will brandish their teeth when they experience fright. The other will act dead when they feel threatened.

Conclusion

An animal that feels threatened will act differently from one that feels comfortable in the lap of its owner, or even in a zoo (Panksepp, 2005). This can only be explained through the similarity that exists between the neuroanatomical structure of animals and that of human beings, especially in the case of mammals. Emotions are the best explanation for the difference in behavior observed in animals. We cannot ignore the similarity of the functionality of the brain of human beings to that of other animals. Speaking from a scientific point, a human being is an animal. It is not uncommon to observe a dog lying around the grave of its previous owner or take care of a child in a park. These actions are a clear indication that the dog experiences feelings and emotions, which make it act like a human being. Therefore, animals have feelings and emotions (Bekoff, 2010).

References

Barrett, L. F. (2017). How emotions are made: The secret life of the brain. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Bekoff, M. (2010). The emotional lives of animals: A leading scientist explores animal joy, sorrow, and empathy—and why they matter. New World Library.

Panksepp, J. (2005). Affective consciousness: Core emotional feelings in animals and humans. Consciousness and Cognition, 14(1), 30-80.