The Emotional Lives of Animals - A Leading Scientist Explores Animal Joy, Sorrow and Empathy - and Why They Matter is a very special book. The author, Marc Bekoff, is one of the leading scientists in the field of cognitive ethology - the study of animals' minds and behaviours observed during field work, as opposed to during laboratory experiments. It is a truly fascinating piece of writing.
It seems that at least in the developed nations, at the beginning of the twenty first century, we have finally managed to accept that animals feel pain. But do they have feelings? Can animals love, can they be happy or sad, can they feel embarrased? To anyone who has ever lived with a cat or a dog the answers to these questions are obvious. Of course they do. Still, many scientists and common people are very unwilling to admit that, especially when it comes to animals other than our companion pets. The reason for that is simple - admitting that the animals that we eat, that we kill for clothing, that we keep for our entertainement in zoos have feelings is very uncomfortable. Once we have accepted this, we should revise the way we treat non-human animals. This seems to be unthinkable for most.
Bekoff presents a lot of evidence to prove that both human and non-human animals share the same emotions. Moreover, he claims that some, if not all, animals act according to a certain moral code, yet another characteristic that used to be considered as possessed by humans only. His evidence comes from biological research, for example from identifying certain areas in animals' brains that are similar to ours and thus responsible for feeling similar emotions (did you know animals can also suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder?). But the bulk of his research is field studies - observing animals in their natural environment.
Have you ever wondered if animals can feel empathy, compassion or sadness? Bekoff tells numerous stories that confirm that they do: there's a story of two dogs, one of them gone blind and the other one acting as her guide for the rest of her days; there's the one of a blind donkey, guided around the pasture and to the water tank by her best donkey friend; there are stories of elephants desperately trying to bring back to life a member of the group that has been shot down; or a story of a grieving female fox who at night comes back to the dead body of her mate and spends longs hours trying to burry him; stories of animals who cannot get over the death of the loved ones and so they slowly pass away as well.
But there are also many happy stories. One of Bekoff's greatest interests is animal play: why and how they play. There are also great accounts of the friendship and love between human and non-human animals. He also quotes a study showing the importance of animals in children's life: those who grew up with dogs or cats were more self-confident than thos who didn't. Another study proves that children who lived with dogs were more empathic and socially oriented than those who didn't.
In the final chapter of the book "Ethical Choices: What We Do with What We Know" Bekoff goes on to briefly examine our treatment of animals in laboratories, in the food industry, and in zoos. Being a strong believer in the need to abolish all our actions aimed at using animals for our pleasure, I cannot fully agree with his call for more 'humane' treatment of animals in all these areas. I do understand however, that he is simply realistic here, even if what he really advocates is that at some point we stop abusing animals altogether. I especially appreciated the part about zoos, I think it should be read by everyone who thinks going to the zoo is fun. Most people will admit that it's not very humane to keep animals in bad physical conditions in teh zoos. But how often do we consider the emotional needs of the wild animals kept in captivity?. Bekoff tells stories of elephants who suffer and die in zoos as a result of being separated from their friends or family members.
I will finish by quoting one of the closing paragraphs of the book - it clearly shows why even if we still cannot be a hundred percent sure how close animals' feelings are to ours, we know enough to have to rethink our attitude:
'When we're unsure about how we influence the lives of other animals, we should give them the benefit of the doubt and err on the side of the animals. It's better to be safe than sorry. Many animals suffer in silence, and we don't even realize this until we look into their eyes. Then we know'
Perhaps the best summary of the book is simply the questions Marc Bekoff asks anyone who questions that there's anything wrong with the way we treat animals: Would you do it to your dog?
