This idea came to me the other day when I was remembering some of the debates we had in an old High School class of mine. One was about animals and if they had souls and feelings or not.
I personally believe they do. I can tell when my two cats are hungry or afraid of something or angry. My cats hiss at me when they don't like the fact that I touched their tail or their paws. They circle around my feet when I'm in the kitchen which lets me know that they are hungry. And I can tell when they are scared when they get low to the ground and start running to find a place to hide like down in the basement or under my parent's bed when there's a thunder storm going on outside.
I know that they can feel pain as well after once or twice when I was younger I stepped on one cat's foot on accident and she did a high meow noise and got away from me.
There were a few people in my old class that said they didn't think animals had feelings. That there was no way that we could ever understand what they want or mean by something.
I disagree. Sure there are things animals do that are strange like when my cats roll around on their backs in the grass outside when they are on their leashes. But then there are actions like meowing or the hissing that tells us how they are feeling. They may not speak like humans, but they can speak and communicate in different ways that we have learned to catch on and understand.
Discuss:
Do you think animals have feelings or not and why?
I personally believe they do. I can tell when my two cats are hungry or afraid of something or angry. My cats hiss at me when they don't like the fact that I touched their tail or their paws. They circle around my feet when I'm in the kitchen which lets me know that they are hungry. And I can tell when they are scared when they get low to the ground and start running to find a place to hide like down in the basement or under my parent's bed when there's a thunder storm going on outside.
I know that they can feel pain as well after once or twice when I was younger I stepped on one cat's foot on accident and she did a high meow noise and got away from me.
There were a few people in my old class that said they didn't think animals had feelings. That there was no way that we could ever understand what they want or mean by something.
I disagree. Sure there are things animals do that are strange like when my cats roll around on their backs in the grass outside when they are on their leashes. But then there are actions like meowing or the hissing that tells us how they are feeling. They may not speak like humans, but they can speak and communicate in different ways that we have learned to catch on and understand.
Discuss:
Do you think animals have feelings or not and why?
