Animal Companions – Love is Real

“I care not for a man’s religion whose dog and cat are not the better for it.” So said, Abraham Lincoln and what wise words they are. For if a religion is too narrow to allow my pets to march through the gates of heaven with me, then I am happy to stay a heathen.

The bond that is shared betrween animals and humans has been immortalised and romanticised over and over again, from old classics like Black Beauty, My Friend Flicka, Old Yeller, Lassie and Mr. Ed, to modern day movies like Marley and Me and Hachi: A Dog’s Tale.

As people lucky enough to have bonded with our dog, cat, horse or Vietnamese pot-bellied pig companion (species truly is immaterial here) we know that our four legged friends love us. Unconditionally.

But animal behaviorists and experts say otherwise. According to them the displays of affection we receive from our animals are simply a conditioned reflex, an action-reaction response whereby the dog (or cat, or horse or pig or hamster) displays affection and gets a reward of some kind, whether that be a doggy biscuit, a  pat on the head or a long walk in the woods.

The bond is not restricted to domestic animals and pets. Watch this emotional reunion between Christian, a lion that was bought as a cub in Harrod’s Department Store in London and raised in a London semi-detached before being rehabilitated and released into the wild. Christian did not see his human family for many years. His reaction to the humans invading his territory could very well be lethal..

Now, you tell me what it is that Christian actually wants in that video. Do you think he wants to go walkies? Looks very much to me that he is overwhelmed with joy to see his old, beloved friend again, don’t you think?

Tagged as: animal companions, animal human bond, bonding, four legged friends, lion, love