We Need More Empathy for the Emotions of Animals

By Amanda Gernentz, Sociology Graduate Student, Texas Woman’s University

There is an episode of the kid’s show Rugrats that is burned into my brain. It’s called “A Dog’s Life,” and features scenes from the Pickles family dog’s point of view.

Spike (the dog) continually tries to protect baby Dil from a contraption that his father, Stu, built for him to play in, despite being repeatedly scolded. When the audience hears things from Spike’s point of view, the words the humans speak are gibberish (other than his name), but the tone is clear. You can feel Spike’s emotions, how he hates getting in trouble, but he is so loyal to his small companion that he continually risks the scolding. It really shaped my childhood understanding of the life of a pet and showed me what love and loyalty were from a companion animal.

As a slightly older child, I was obsessed with the Thoroughbred chapter books. Ashleigh, the main character, trains and eventually becomes the jockey for a horse named Wonder. The series is out of print now, so I can’t reread them to see if I’m remembering the plot correctly, but I recall Ashleigh being against some of the typical training methods for Thoroughbred racing horses.

For instance, she never used a whip on Wonder, and would encourage her to go faster by speaking to her. I didn’t have horses growing up, but I spent a summer at horse camp and really fell in love with horses and all animals. I would talk to the horses while grooming them and riding them, and I have a distinct memory of a camp counselor telling me I didn’t need to talk to them—they couldn’t understand me. Even at twelve, I thought, of course they can’t. But they know I’m here. Something about animals, and speaking to them in a calm, gentle manner, prepared me in ways I never expected for my career. Those horses at camp surely didn’t know what I was saying, but little pre-teen Amanda feels secure in knowing that my talking to them confirmed that I wasn’t a threat to them.

Most current research agrees that animals experience emotions, although many researchers may not use the term “feelings” to describe what animals are experiencing. Marc Bekoff, a professor emeritus at the University of Colorado in Boulder, spent his career observing animals in the wild to understand their emotions. Bekoff stated in an interview that he would rather treat all animals—even those stereotypically thought to not have the higher brain functioning of mammals—as though they have emotions, in order to “keep the door open until we are sure that it is not true.”

Other research postulates that what we interpret as emotional responses in nonhuman animals may be humans projecting their own emotions onto other species, while recent research shows that the answer to whether animals have feelings is a “resounding yes.”

If it’s true that animals have emotions—which I believe they do—then why is animal abuse and cruelty not a more serious crime? Why is there such a lack of empathy when it comes to scientific research that causes animal test subjects pain, or to factory farming? Why aren’t  the emotions of animals considered humans are destroying their habitats? And what can we do about any of it?

While the Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture Act, or PACT Act, which was passed in 2019, increased some of the punishments and broadened some of the definitions of animal cruelty, it did not go far enough. PACT upgraded some traditionally state offenses to federal offenses, and provided definitions for specific criminal acts that hadn't been covered by federal law prior, including crushing, burning, drowning, and suffocating animals, among other criminal acts.

There are loopholes, and types of animals and situations that get exceptions. For instance, the PACT Act does not cover animals that are used in ways that are considered "customary and normal" in agriculture, doesn't cover "customary and normal" veterinary practices, and has religious exemptions. Additionally, animals used for laboratory testing were not afforded any additional protections from pain or suffering for the benefit of the experiments they're part of, and certain animals aren't protected at all, including mice, rats, and birds.

More needs to be done to protect animals from abuse and pain. If animals are capable of feeling empathy, why can’t humans show them the same complexity in their emotions?

So, what can we do? We can contact our legislators. We can research candidates to see what their stances are on animal law and use our votes.  On a local level, we can find animal shelters and nonprofits in our areas and volunteer our time. We can donate money and nonperishables that can be used by the shelters and rescues. We can research universities and research centers in our areas to ensure they have policies on the human treatment of animals. And we can use our power as consumers to shop locally and ethically, as we are able. Animals deserve more from us. Let’s try to give it to them. 

Comments

[Josh]

Thanks for the thoughtful and important contribution. I'd like to add that another (rather simple) thing we can do to reduce harm to other animals is to stop eating non-human animals and refrain from consuming their milk. Peace begins on the plate!