Poll: do animals feel love?

[Jfswift]

 

[reg42]

I think they do.
The last dogs I had had been together for ages... Like 10 years. Eventually we had to put one down, and the other one basically when into a depression.
So yeah, I think they do.

 

[TehCookie]

As many others stated I think animals have a difference sense of love, like the love you feel towards your friends/family. As for them needing something out of it, all animals like company and you don't need to give them anything more than that to get them to love you. My parents are the ones to feed the cats but since I spend the most time with them they love me the most.

 

[skeliton112]

We are animals, so if we can why can't another animals. If there is another intelligent life form they will be animals. Why cant they?

 

[Denizen]

Read #1
http://listverse.com/2007/07/06/top-15-bizarre-true-stories/

and

http://listverse.com/2010/03/14/top-10-cases-of-animals-saving-humans/

 

[Kris015]

Love is a joke

 

[Kortney]

Love is completely subjective. Most of it is purely psychological and since the majoriy of living things on the planet aren't capable of cognitive thought, I'd have to say no.

Read #1
http://listverse.com/2007/07/06/top-15-bizarre-true-stories/

and

http://listverse.com/2010/03/14/top-10-cases-of-animals-saving-humans/

Neither of those links are about love. If I saw a child drowning, I would save the child. I don't love the child, but I'd still save it.

--

Animals are certainly capable of feeling affection and have bonds, but love is such a human concept I wouldn't say animals feel love. At least not in the same way we do.

 

[Tharwen]

You can't answer this before 'What is love?'. Yes, animals feel bonds to one another, but that's usually only so that they stay together long enough to protect their children. They certainly can't feel 'true love' for another animal that they want to spend the rest of their life with.

 

[Airhead]

My science teacher classified that animals feel bonds rather than love in a sense that they only form relationships in order to get something out of it.

Which is exactly what humans do, if one remembers that 'getting something' doesn't necessarily mean gaining immediate and direct benefits for the said human. We will marvel at how beautiful and typically human it is for a mother to sacrifice herself for her child or for someone to risk his or her life to be with his lover, but it all serves to ensure the survival of the species at the cost of an individual. It's an instinct built into us and other animals as well.

Even if because of our brains we are capable of feeling a wide array of complicated emotions, I believe that on a basic level our emotions are not any different than what more complex animals feel.

 

[Tharwen]

You can't answer this before 'What is love?'. Yes, animals feel bonds to one another, but that's usually only so that they stay together long enough to protect their children. They certainly can't feel 'true love' for another animal that they want to spend the rest of their life with.

you can't hug your children with nuclear arms.

Er... Yeah.

What?

 

[jamesworkshop]

I believe that some animals do mainly those capable of forming social groups it might not quite be at a human standard but thats only because we are more evolved and intelligent.
I don't believe pets love their owners in the romantic sence because they are not going to be physically attracted to humans

 

[GamerPhate]

No more than humans do.

Although, any feeling you have is just a chemical release in the brain. So the "feeling" of love is subjective.

 

[v3n0mat3]

My two cats LOVE each other. That may be because they are littermates, still, they are inseparable.

 

[Zersy]

In my biology class we eventually got off topic and started talking about animals and their emotions. My science teacher classified that animals feel bonds rather than love in a sense that they only form relationships in order to get something out of it. What do you think escapist.

P.S. I checked and found no direct polls or threads to this through page 4

Well, A Dog can love a man more then a woman can love a man anyday !

Speaking from expeirance here (My ***** was more loyal to me then my "*****") hahah

 

[GrinningManiac]

To deduce if animals feel it, we must first define...

​

 

[Vampire cat]

Who knowd for sure =p.

I myself don't understand that emotion, but my cats do follow me around constantly, demand endless pettings, sleep by my feet when I play video games, sit outside the door till I'm out of the shower, & snuggle next to me at bed time. Is that love, or do they think they're children?

Maybe you smell nice?

[/quote]

To deduce if animals feel it, we must first define...

​

This is love =3

 

[EeveeElectro]

They feel something... Whenever I'm crying my kitty looks up straight away and cuddles up to me and starts purring. We all awww'd at school a few years ago, because we saw two pigeons watching the sunset leaning on each other ^^

 

[Custard_Angel]

Animals display things like pack loyalty, dependence and appreciation. Love... No...

Although animals are also capable of being absolutely adorable.