By Kristel-Marie Ramnauth
This article was written by guest columnist Kristel-Marie Ramnath, who is an Associate Member of the Veterinary Association of Trinidad and Tobago and specialises in animal behaviour and pet psychology. She is the author of several articles on this subject and is often referred to as T&T’s Pet Whisperer.
Two months ago, I was on the radio defending the fact that dogs have emotions. Strange that in this day and age where animals have proven themselves above and beyond to be intelligent and sensitive, they are still looked upon by some as dumb. The debate regarding emotion in animals started as early as Aristotle (384—322 BC) and continues to this day with no scientific consensus. Scientists, philosophers, pet owners and those who interact with animals all voice their opinions on this matter but it remains a difficult question to answer because animals cannot tell us what they are feeling in words. It is apparent that society recognises that animals can suffer and feel pain, as demonstrated by the criminalisation of animal cruelty; but are animal expressions simply innate/hard-wired responses or do they represent animal emotion? Aristotle first postulated that there is a natural hierarchy of living beings; the different levels being determined by the abilities