Research supports what Darwin said in 1872 – dogs express emotions in a way recognisable to humans. Governments must do more to protect them, says Jules Howard
Michelle D’urbano
THIS year marks the 150th anniversary of Charles Darwin’s The Expression of the Emotions in Man and Animals, the third of his major works on evolutionary theory. One of his chief assertions was that dogs, like many other animals, express emotions, including fear and anger, in a way recognisable to humans. That, bluntly, they feel things like we do.
You would be forgiven for thinking that Darwin’s argument would have enhanced the welfare of dogs, but change has been slow. In society at the time, the fate of street dogs improved only marginally, and in science, dogs continued to be …