Do Animals Have and Show Emotions?

Walking in the front door of a home that has pets is always a joy. The pets in the home rush to the door with pure excitement that their owner is home; from that right there proves that animals show human emotions towards human and other animals. Emotion is the state of mind that comes from ones circumstance, mood and feelings towards another. People highly relate their animal’s emotions to their own because of the way they react around humans or other animals. Many non-pet owners don’t believe that animals have or show any emotion because they don’t know or have experienced the bond between human and animal or animal and animal. Evidence shows that people have begun to realize that they can create bonds with their pets that seem to be more like what they can create with humans.

Many people have started to try and prove the point that animals have and show emotions. Studies done at the University of Portsmouth by Paul Morris, Sarah Knight and Sarah Lesley to prove that animals show emotions by viewing homes with one pet between homes with more than one pet. They concluded that homes with more than one pet showed the same amount of emotions. This shows that one pet in the home gives the same amount of emotion to the human as if there was two pets in the home giving emotion to each other and the human; telling that the pet can give emotion to a human rather than just another pet.

They have also concluded that animals have the capacity of 16 different emotions depending on the species. For example dogs have more emotional capacity than a bug. People who have a specific species of animal have the sense that their animal shows more emotions than someone who doesn’t own that species would suspect they show (Morris, Knight, Lesley...

... middle of paper ...

...s it up.

Evidence shows that people have begun to realize that they can create bonds with their pets that seem to be more like what they can create with humans. Many people know that their animals share emotion with them; and depend on them as much as humans depend on their animals. The biggest proving factor of animals having emotion is the fact they used M.R.I machines; to show that animals and humans have the same part of the brain that causes emotions. Proving that animals have emotion is important because they deserve credit for showing us how they feel and what makes them feel this way. Just because an animal can’t technically talk to a human doesn’t mean they can’t communicate how they feel at the time they show an emotion. People who own pets really look at their pets as they would a human because of the emotions they are able to share together.