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Topic: Article: "Do Animals Grieve?" Post ReplyPost New Topic
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Dave Kopperman
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Joined: 27 December 2004
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Posted: 02 November 2026 at 9:20pm | IP Logged | 1 post reply

Yeah, my vegetarian diet owes itself to the general idea that I don't want anything to have to suffer (or die) so that I can continue to exist. Since we're the only species that can make THAT particular call, I tend to not judge anyone else for their own dietary choices.

It does mean that I have less of an issue eating something that was treated humanely, while it lived.
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Peter Martin
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Posted: 02 November 2026 at 9:37pm | IP Logged | 2 post reply

My dog interrupted a crow's funeral in the park a few years back. The crows were not happy. Our dog had disappeared down a path into some trees and we heard an enormous cacophony of cawing. We followed her to a clearing where she was rolling on the crow's carcass with the crows in the trees going mental.

Edited by Peter Martin on 02 November 2026 at 9:38pm
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Dave Kopperman
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Posted: 02 November 2026 at 9:46pm | IP Logged | 3 post reply

A little further observation on losing our cat Alfred; I've been describing him as a load-bearing cat - it's amazing how much space such a tiny thing takes up. For the four remaining entities in our household - my wife, myself, Alfred's brother Diego, and our more recent addition Penelope (a feisty tuxedo stray that the cat delivery system dropped on us a couple of years ago) - it's like the Jupiter of our house suddenly blipped out of existence and all us remaining planets started adjusting our orbits.
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Bill Collins
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Posted: 03 November 2026 at 7:19am | IP Logged | 4 post reply

My main experience is with rescue dogs, and every single
one has shown deliberate signs of joy, even smiling in
their own way. So why do scientists doubt they experience
grief? Is it because certain scientists still experiment on
animals, and admitting they show emotion would make their
use even more horrific? My current rescue dog sits next to
me when i watch tv, he throws himself back so he's leaning
against me, his head is on my shoulder, or pressed against
mine. I have watched a fair few tv shows about dog rescue
centre's and it's patently obvious a great deal of thos
dogs show real signs of depressio, sadness and grief.

Edited by Bill Collins on 04 November 2026 at 7:12am
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James Johnson
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Posted: 03 November 2026 at 6:56pm | IP Logged | 5 post reply

Bill,

You took the words right out of my mouth. 

I love dogs but did not want the responsibility to caring for one. Then my daughter kept watching the pet adoption commercials and started to get sad when she saw them. My wife was kind of against it, but made our daughter promise that she will do her fair share of looking after him. 

We then adopted a 3 year old lab/pit mix in Jan 2024. He had a history of abuse from his first 2 owners and was very timid when we brought him home. He was house broken so that was the big positive. 

For the first 24 hours, he was quiet as a mouse. Did not bark or whine. Just laid on the blanket and ate food when we fed him. We began to wonder if he did bark. So when and my wife went out to a football game the next day, our daughter called and said that he barked due to hearing the chime on the washing machine. From there, he became very playful and a great joy to us all.

Now, I don't know what I would do without him. 
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Jason K Fulton
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Posted: 03 November 2026 at 8:29pm | IP Logged | 6 post reply

Can't imagine my life without having dogs and cats. Most of my daily routine is structured around walking the boys and taking care of the four of them.
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Bill Collins
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Posted: 04 November 2026 at 7:24am | IP Logged | 7 post reply

Our previous rescue dog suffered recurring bouts of
pancreatitis due to his poor start in life, which
eventually lead to diabetes. We had to inject him with
insulin twice a day, at early morning and around 6pm. He
was fine with it. One particularly hectic day we sat down
to watch tv around 8pm, and he started bugging us, we
checked he had food and water and let him out in case he
needed the toilet, all to no avail. I then realised he
hadn't had his second jab of the day. As soon as he had
that, and his little dog treat he was fine.
Also, we have always walked our dogs at specific times of
the day, and somehow they know when it's those times,
even when the clocks go back or forward! So i never
underestimate the intelligence or emotional ability of
many types of animal.
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James Woodcock
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Posted: 04 November 2026 at 5:33pm | IP Logged | 8 post reply

Dogs and cats seem to adjust extremely quickly to clocks
going back and forth.

And so did my chickens when I had those.

Edited by James Woodcock on 04 November 2026 at 5:34pm
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