[Jeff Higgins]

Anyone who has worked closely with animals of any kind will have gained some insight into their intelligence and capacity for feeling. For example, I have worked with hunting dogs my whole life. I fully expect them to eventually wind up with about a 30 word "vocabulary" that they not only understand, but to which they immediately respond. I also expect them to problem solve to a degree and to demonstrate this ability without fail at the hunt tests and in the field. It simply amazes most people to see a well-trained dog working. To me, it's not that big of a deal; I have come to expect it from them. In developing this kind of a close association with one of these dogs, you can also begin to pick up on their personalities and moods. They have them just like we do. They have good days and bad days; days where they are more enthusiastic than others; essentialy the same ups and downs we have. They are living, thinking creatures; why would we be surprised to see this? That said, I do believe that regardless of any species of animal's ability to think, reason, perceive, feel, and whatever other "human" traits they exhibit, they are still just animals. Just because they demonstrate traits similar to ours does not make them truly "human" traits. The more one sees these traits demonstrated in other animals the less exclusively "human" they become. These traits in no way raise them even close to our level. They are simply not that remarkable to folks that grew up around animals. This is just a hunch, and a pretty broad generalization, but I would guess that folks today that are unduly impressed by these traits may just be "city boys" (for lack of a better term) that had no real exposure to them growing up. They are assigning more meaning to all of it than there really exists, getting all worked up over something the rest of us have always known, and are better able to keep in perspective.