Rating: 
Summary: Compelling Look at animal emotions
Review: Mr. Masson wrote a book on a topic that desperately needed to be
studied and brought to the public and scientific eyes: the Emotional Lives of Animals. All pet lovers and people that work with animals know that animals feel and exhibit emotions. Mr Masson does a good job of making this point come across in a psuedo-scientific way. I say psuedo because, as of yet, there is no real scientific way of defining or examining emotions except through observations and comparisions to our own experiences and lives.
At times Mr Masson does seem to forget about the emotions of his readers and drags some messages on a bit too long. He doesn't really allow us, the readers, to become emotionally connected to his research and observations. This is the only reason I gave this book a 4 instead of a 5. It is a good book that anyone who wants to observe/study or be confident in the facts that they knew animals had emotions should read. Thank You Mr Masson.
Rating: 
Summary: Misleading & ignorant but well meaning
Review: The authors of this book clearly meant well. Their basic premise is one that I agree with- that animals are more than non-feeling automations.
They do a good job of making their case- if you don't know much about their sources or the scientific process. They misundersand and misinterperet much of their evidence and to add to it I caught them in one boldfaced lie.
The brunt of their argument relies on the use of annedotes. Many of these stories are compelling but deal more with the opinions of the witnesses which in some cases are highly questionable.
The authors site some well known scientific researchers. I have read a few of the works sited and can tell you that the authors often "forget" to include the words of caution the researchers included about the dangers of anthropomorphizing their subjects and about the fact that although we may guess about an animals emotions we cannot know about them.
The authors of this book have a big problem with anthropomorphization, and do not understand the very real need to avoid it. If scientists are to be allowed to guess and assume things instead of prove them through research, then many would be able to declare that there is life on Mars or that evolution does not exist. We can theorize about these things and try to find proof of them but we cannot SCIENTIFICALLY declare them to be so. If you doubt the fact that people are capable of making big errors in judgment when trying to read animal emotions read the prologue of this book.
While there are scientists and animal researchers out there who claim that animals cannot have emotions, there are plenty of others who believe that they probably do. However, just because we think something is true doesn't mean we can say it is scientific fact.
The authors make the claim that zookeepers don't ask if the animals in their care are "happy", only if they are well fed etc. This is a blatant lie- ask a zookeeper yourself.
Finally, the authors do not seem to understand that just because there is an evolutionary advantage for an emotion does not invalidate that emotion. They continually attack biologists who seem open to the idea of animal emotions. I found this puzzling and it did not help their case.
A number of good points are made in this book, however knowing that the authors lied at least once and misinterpeted/misunderstood so many of the stories they cite as evidence, I am left to wonder about anything they say.
I picked up this book with the hope of enjoying it and learning more about the emotional lives of animals but I was deeply disappointed. This book did more to discredit the idea of animal emotions than it did to support it.
If you really are interested in the subject please do yourself a favor and read the works they cite for yourself.
Rating: 
Summary: One of the most important books ever on the subject
Review: The behaviorist school of psychology has taught students of behavior that non-human animals are merely stimulus-response mechanisms. Yet Darwin established nearly 150 years ago that humans are fully part of the natural world; part of the Animal Kingdom. The evidence for conscious thought among non-human animals is now overwhelming, yet fabulous sums are poured into unnecessary research that is pure torture. This book makes the strongest case to date that animals feel the results of this suffering,as well as experiencing joy and many other emotions. It is a powerful book, a "must read" for for every member of OUR species.
Rating:
Summary: long overdue critique of how academia "thinks" about animals
Review: This book has been an eye-opener for me. It outlines the hidden assumptions, as well as the explicit scientific philosophies, behind the academic world's disrespect and irreverence for animals. Because it analyzes and weighs ideas, it is not an easy read in many sections--thus, I think, the number of reviews which gave it 1 or 2 stars. Like some readers, I thought there would be a lot more anecdotes in the book, and yet, I learned a lot more about the flaws in how we think about animals from the authors' discussions about human viewpoints. Be prepared to put on your thinking cap when you sit down with this book--although there are entertaining vignettes, that's not the main point. Also, the reader(s) who were incensed about the authors' "attack" on scientific method did not closely read the text, I believe. The authors' arguments were based on voluminous research and are in line with many dissenting scientists' viewpoints. I find that there are many folks who believe in reductionist science so strongly that it becomes almost a religion for them--and when their "religion" is "attacked", they simply ignore the evidence on the other side whilst saying the opposing views are bogus. The authors should probably take it as a positive sign that they have triggered this sort of outrage. This book is aimed at minds willing to work, rather than be spoonfed. If you want an easy read, buy "Ring of Bright Water" or something along those lines.
Rating: 
Summary: As guilty as the other side!
Review: To start with, I agree with much of the authors' concerns about those who equate the scientific caution against anthropomorphizing with the notion that animals do not possess emotions at all. The problem? The authors point at anecdotal evidence for emotion in animals and simply ask the reader if an emotional explanation for the observed behavior isn't reasonable. That's it! There's no science here, and in fact it could be said there's anti-science here. This does a disservice to the promotion of this field of study and rightly brings the scorn of working scientists.I'm focusing on the negatives here because I had high expectations for a more objective approach to this discussion. If emotional people focus on animal emotions with nothing more than anecdotal evidence, and objective scientists focus on animal behavior in terms of only environmental factors, why should it be a surprise that there is disagreement? The one way to break the deadlock is for the emotionalists to design and carry out experiments that will develop evidence for an emotional basis for behavior, because scientists will respond to that. There's little reason for them to respond to anything in this book. So, if you're looking for science don't read this book. If you're looking for some interesting stories about animals and disposed to read some ranting about those who give animals little regard, you'll like this book.
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