Animals do have feelings—I know this for a fact. During one of my astral trips with my spirit guide, Albert, as recounted in my book, Dancing Forever with Spirit, I viewed some segments of my current life in the Akashic Records. In one episode, I got to view a scene from my life as a lawyer in Calgary as I got home from work one day. I was allowed to hear the thoughts and feel the emotions of our little dog, Oscar, who was nestled in his bed, waiting for my return.

When Oscar heard the garage door opening, he rushed to the back entrance to greet me, his little tail wagging furiously in anticipation of my entry. But my head was in the clouds that day, and I walked past Oscar without greeting him or giving him a pat on the head. Poor little Oscar was devastated—he could not understand why I had ignored him. He wondered what he had done to offend me, as he slunk back to his bed feeling totally dejected. It was heartbreaking for me to watch this scene and experience Oscar’s feelings of rejection.

Many people believe animals are just dumb creatures without feelings that exist to be used (or abused) by humans as they see fit—but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Animals do have emotions and they can feel love and fear, joy and melancholy, and acceptance and rejection, just like humans. Most people with pets will know this to be true—but we must do our best to convince everyone else to treat the other creatures on our planet with the dignity and respect they deserve.