From Salthaven Wildlife Rehab Center
What if animals feel more than we ever realized?
Animals feel emotions just like we do-joy, fear, love, grief, and everything in between. From a dog’s wagging tail to a grieving Orca, the emotional intelligence of animals is undeniable. At Salthaven, we see firsthand how wildlife express their feelings and how respecting those emotions strengthens our bond with them.
Want to learn more about how animals experience emotions and why it matters? Read our latest blog post!
Back in Ye Olden Tymes, I took a course in which we were shown a film about communications in animals. In the film, an orca mother was separated from her calf and swam around bonking her head on the walls of the tank.
I shit thee not, the film asked the question, “what could the animal be doing?” And no, gentle reader, it was not asked ironically. Afterwards the professor professed that animals do not communicate as we do, and there are good reasons to believe they do not have the emotions we do.
Reader, I say unto y’all, that be some bullshit. But apparently the group mind is still not up to speed such that science showing fish have preferences is considered headline-making.