Do animals feel love and emotion? - eviltoast

Do cats and dogs actually feel affection when you treat them right or is it really just an instinct for “more food and drink” etc?

I don’t think I’ve ever seen dogs, cats and other domestic animals smile because they’re happy and show love to their owners for treating them right.

Yeah I see memes but those are either photoshopped or snapped at the perfect moment to make it look like they’re smiling.

  • Another_earthling@lemmy.world
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    8 hours ago

    Not only dogs and cats are individuals who have their own way of showing how they feel and how much they love you.

    Most people would probably switch to a vegan lifestyle if they realised how much we underestimate animals (and overestimate ourselves)

    • Evil_incarnate@lemm.ee
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      5 hours ago

      I struggle with this all the time. I hate watching cute piggy videos because I remember them next time I eat bacon.

      • Another_earthling@lemmy.world
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        3 hours ago

        Well, why not start with gradual changes?

        If you feel bad, you already made the first step: listening to yourself because you already realised how wrong it is.

        If you need motivation, watch dominion. I think it’s fair to say that people should have footage like that in the back of their mind when they want to enjoy animal products.

        You might not believe me, but changing things like your diet to be free of any animal cruelty feels fucking great, and it just takes a certain amount of time to learn new recipes and then it’s just easy going.

        I can help you with whatever you struggle with if you ever need some help

    • actionjbone@sh.itjust.works
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      3 hours ago

      My cats eat a diet almost entirely of delicious, delicious meat.

      None of it is made of cats.

      Nor do I eat cat meat.

      There’s nothing wrong with being omnivorous as long as you’re ethical about it.

      There’s also nothing wrong with veganism as long as you’re ethical about it.

      I draw the line at cannibalism, though. Way too easy to spread human pathogens that way.

      • Another_earthling@lemmy.world
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        2 hours ago

        What? You don’t eat cats, okay. But what’s the point?

        There is nothing wrong with being an omnivore lol. Sure, it’s just what you are. Does being an omnivore mean you HAVE TO eat meat or do you think that the scientific consensus might be that we don’t have to?

        And if we don’t have to, what’s the main reason why you still eat it? Taste? Personal pleasure? Do you think that this is a good justification for harming other individuals?

        You can’t be ethical about “killing individuals that don’t want to die for trivial reasons like taste pleasure” which might sound a bit overexaggerated at first, however if you look it up and find out that you don’t have to eat any meat, you’ll see that it’s exactly that. It’s not ethical.

        Test if by changing the situation while you keep the logic. Tell me where personal sensory pleasure is a legit justification to bring harm or death upon individuals

      • 🦄🦄🦄@feddit.org
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        3 hours ago

        If you kill a sentient being for pleasure against its will, there is nothing that could make it ethical.