Do Animals Have Feelings? 5 Studies on Animal Sentence

What is your dog feeling when he’s playing with his favorite toy? What emotions does your cat experience when you leave the house? How about your hamster: does he know what it means when you give him a kiss?

Additionally, many humans may feel that animal sentience — the ability of animals to feel and perceive things — is clear: After all, anyone that has ever been a pet parent can see clearly that their animals exhibit fear, surprise, happiness, and anger. But for scientists, this observational evidence isn’t enough: There needs to be more.

And more there has been.

Over the years, there have been several significant studies on animal sentience. Here, we’ll touch on a few, but first a note about procedure: for some animals, scientists study their perceived sentience observationally. In other words, studies of rodents and chickens have been done by watching their behavior. Other studies have been done through brain scans: Often, these types of studies are done on animals that will tolerate them, such as dogs and dolphins. There is no uniform methodology for testing sentience in animals, which makes sense, as all animals — even human animals — are different in the ways they perceive and relate to the world.

Here are a few of the most significant studies done on animal sentience:

01 of 05
A University of Chicago Study Proves Empathy in Rodents

A study conducted by Inbal Ben-Ami Bartal, Jean Decety, and Peggy Mason at the University of Chicago found that rats that have not been trained to do so will free other rats that are being restrained, and that they do this based on empathy. This study added to an earlier study that proved that mice also had empathy (though the study inflicted pain upon the mice) and a later study that found empathy in chickens, as well (without harming the chickens).

02 of 05
Gregory Burns Studies Dog Sentience

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