When a dog dies, the loss can be disorienting. Our four-legged companions move with us through life's stages; some of us even grow up with them, making their sudden absence profoundly painful. What ...

In an earlier blog post, I staged a debate between an advocate claiming that nonhuman animals have emotions and a skeptic arguing that there are simpler explanations of animal behavior. I did not ...

Everyone experiences sadness at some point in their life—a heavy, aching feeling no one would wish on themselves or their loved ones, including their pets. But even with all the love and care you ...

Over the past couple of years I've written about various aspects of the rich and complex emotional lives of animals, including essays on grief and mourning. I began one of those essays by writing, ...

Bridget Garrison said she is sharing her painful experience to help other dog owners be prepared for the risk of living near iguanas in South Florida.

Humans aren’t the only species that mourn their dead. Mother chimpanzees have been observed carrying their dead babies for months, continuing to groom them during this time. Giraffes, crows, and ...

I’ve been thinking about animals and death because Tahlequah, that mother orca, lost another calf this month. The baby whale was first spotted by whale watchers on Dec. 20, 2024. Then, on Jan. 1, 2025 ...

A grieving golden retriever named Murray has captured the hearts of internet viewers after his emotional reaction to gaining two new feline siblings went viral. Murray, 10, had been deeply affected by ...

Susana Monsó has received funding from the Austrian Science Fund (FWF) and from the Spanish Ministry for Science and Innovation. It was a story that pulled at the heartstrings. In 2018, an orca called ...