[matthewtoast]

The article subhead ("animals are no less emotional than we are") is a bit misleading. (The headline likely wasn't written by the author.) This essay is not so much about whether animals operate on more or less of emotional basis than us; but the degree to which animals have subjective experiences to begin with. I.e., when a cat or monkey or bat feels sad, is there someone in there feeling that sadness?

Because non-human animals exhibit demonstrably less higher intelligence than us, we tend to assume also that their subjective experience is somehow less sharp or detailed or consequential than ours. Consider the way that virtually our entire civilization treats animals as disposable goods. We confine them in horrendous conditions, we slaughter them for food in brutal ways, we force them to do hard labor, and we even hurt and scare them for petty entertainment. Many people seem to assume that because animals don't cry or smile or frown or grimace like we do, they must not be feeling the emotions we associate with those faces.

If we all could believe that non-human animals could experience emotions such as fear, loneliness, loss, terror, shame, embarrassment, and joy just as richly and profoundly as we do -- and the article suggests that they do, indeed -- then what might we have to change about the way we regard and interact with them? I believe this is the question the article wants us to consider.