A couple of people have made the comment that "Science (or scientists)
say animals do not experience emotion". As someone with a graduate
degree in Animal Behavior, I want to say that isn't quite true.

It's more that you can't just say "the dog was happy to see him"; you
have to say "the dog looked at the man, and began to wag his tail. The
dog approached the man. During this time the frequency of tail- wagging
increased, and when the dog was within about 4 feet of the man, the
dog's hindquarters began to move back and forth with the tail. The dog
raised his front paws, placed them on the man's chest, and licked the
man's face."

Iin other words, you have to describe what happened objectively, with
a minimum of interpretation. Believe me, interpreting another human's
emotional state is hard enough! (Ask any spouse!!) Yes, it's a big no-
no in science to ascribe emotion to animals, but that's because it
clouds the data. For instance, make the dog in the above description
a tiger. It sees the man, begins wagging its tail, approaches, tail
wagging frequency increases, it jumps up.... you better not have
interpreted this chain of events as 'happy to see him" (unless as
"lunch has arrived"! )
(Note: no dissing of tigers is intended. This is mere use of a
stereotype.)

This prohibition again ascribing emotions to animals is NOT the
same as asserting that animals do not feel emotions. That is a
misinterpretation, unfortunately one made by some scientists as
well as by laypeople.
-Claire

[Posted in FML 5512]