Orlando Sentinel, October 28, 2003, Animal emotions...

[Guest guest]

AND NOW, A FEW WORDS FROM FIDO ; PET LOVERS THINK THEIR COMPANIONS HAVE

FEELINGS. SCIENTISTS ARE STARTING TO AGREE, BOOSTING THE STUDY OF ANIMAL

EMOTIONS.:[FINAL Edition]

Linda Shrieves, Sentinel Staff Writer.Orlando Sentinel.Orlando, Fla.:Oct

28, 2003.pg.E.1

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Fido has been home alone all day. But when his master walks in the door,

the dog jumps and barks repeatedly. Hmm. Is that a frustrated woof or a

happy woof? A sad woof or a needy woof?

 

If you can't understand your dog's barks, have no fear. A Japanese toy

company has created the Bow-Lingual, a $99 device that translates your

dog's barks into catchphrases.

 

Is Fido happy? One bark and you'll know. " This is paradise! " the readout

exclaims. Or " I want to dance! "

 

It may be only the beginning of a new era for science -- and a cheesy one

at that. Though some people scoff at Bow-Lingual, the dog- collar device

merely scratches the surface of an emerging field of study on animals and

their emotions. And pet owners are hungrily lapping up the results, eager

to learn more because pets aren't just critters; they're family members.

 

The relationship between scientists and animal lovers hasn't always been

so cozy.

 

For years, pet owners have offered anecdotes of their animals' emotions,

only to be pooh-poohed by mainstream scientists who said animal lovers too

often engage in anthropomorphism -- reading human feelings into animal

behavior.

 

Now a generation of researchers is delving into the emotional life of

animals.

 

" If humans have emotions, there's no reason not to think that animals have

emotions too, " says Marc Bekoff, a University of Colorado biology

professor and former Guggenheim Fellow. " We have hearts; they have hearts.

We have brains; they have brains. "

 

University of Texas Professor Sam Gosling is focusing on personality types

in dogs -- and whether there are shy dogs and outgoing dogs, anxiety-prone

dogs and emotionally stable dogs, curious dogs and not-so-curious dogs.

 

" We find there's good evidence these traits do exist, " says Gosling.

" They're animal versions of the traits that you and I have. "

 

In addition, the advent of new technology, including magnetic resonance

imaging, has opened new doors to scientists studying what had once been

elusive territory: animals' brains.

 

Sound technology has allowed German researchers to record the moos of

dairy cows. Scientists say they can now decipher what cows mean when they

moo: whether they are hungry, thirsty or need milking.

 

Scientists are using the latest high-fidelity technology to record sounds

that previous recording devices could not measure, such as the

high-pitched whoops and squeaks of humpback whales.

 

And each small step for technology represents a leap forward for animal

research.

 

" If we can get to the moon, " says Bekoff, " we can study animal emotions. "

 

A BREED APART

 

But, ye gods, check out what technology has wrought.

 

The Bow-Lingual.

 

In Japan, a team of scientists used audiotape and videotape to record the

barks of 1,000 dogs. Then, employing the same voice- recognition

technology used to analyze Osama bin Laden tapes, researchers categorized

the barks into six basic doggie emotions: happiness, sadness, frustration,

neediness, assertiveness and anger.

 

Owners need merely program the Bow-Lingual with their dog's breed and

weight and let the translations begin. Don't own a purebred? Not to worry.

The Japanese scientists created six " generic virtual breeds " for use in

deciphering mutt talk.

 

But why would Americans throw down $100 on such a gadget? Easy. Because

Americans are a people obsessed with their pets. This year, pet owners are

expected to spend $31 billion on their pets -- on everything from

Harley-Davidson jackets for their dogs to pet liposuction. (We are not

making this up.)

 

" Pets are members of the family, " says Irene Deitch, a psychology

professor at the College of Staten Island and a specialist in family pet

therapy. " They're a source of unconditional love -- something many of us

don't even get from our partners. "

 

For empty-nesters, pets provide someone to take the place of children who

have moved away. For the elderly, they're a source of companionship. Even

kids learn how to be empathetic by having a pet.

 

" Everybody needs touching and kissing, " Deitch says. " That's why the

bonding is so strong. "

 

And that explains why Americans watch The Pet Psychic, why we pay to have

our pet's picture taken with Santa, why we simply must know what our pet

is thinking.

 

Still, though Irene Deitch understands that desire, she remains skeptical

that animals have emotions. " They have empathy, " she says. " And I think

there's a sense of rejection. When you come back after being away, the

animal tears up the house, as if to say, `How dare you abandon me?' But we

have to watch it when we talk about feelings. "

 

Bekoff, on the other hand, has no doubt that animals have emotions. For

too long, he says, science downplayed anecdotal evidence -- such as the

female lowland gorilla who cradled in her arms a 3-year-old boy who fell

into her Chicago zoo enclosure or the countless stories of dogs pulling

their masters from fires.

 

It's time, he says, to take those anecdotes seriously. " The plural of

anecdote, " says Bekoff, " is data. "

 

Three years ago, Bekoff, assembled anecdotal essays from 50 scientists who

had spent years studying animals. The high-profile contributors included

renowned birder Alexander Skutch, primatologists Frans de Waal and Jane

Goodall, and Elizabeth Marshall Thomas, author of The Hidden Life of Dogs.

 

He compiled the essays in a book, The Smile of a Dolphin: Remarkable

Accounts of Animal Emotions (Discovery Channel, $35). The contributors

noted some remarkable, emotional behavior. A dolphin angrily hurled a

plastic pipe after a trainer rebuked her for failing to do a task

correctly; a bonobo (ape) routinely threw temper tantrums when his sister

outperformed him. And a pair of Arabian horses became so attached to each

other that one got agitated whenever the other was out of sight.

 

" It shocked me that 50 or 60 of my colleagues really came out of the

closet, " says Bekoff. " So many people who study animals have these

wonderful stories they want to share, but they can't publish them in

mainstream research. "

 

Gradually, however, scientists are starting to believe that animals can be

jealous, have temper tantrums and experience grief.

 

" The question is no longer: Do animals have emotions? " says Bekoff. " The

question is, why do they have them? It's an exciting field of study. "

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