I grew up in the 50s in a violent household...my first memories of animal life were very special to me..there was fighting going on in the house screaming,swearing I was about 5 years old...so I ran outside and hid in the bushes so they couldn't find me...my heart was broken and I was sobbing..out of no were a bird landed on my leg I continued to cry, and it just looked at me..so I started telling the bird why I was crying, it's eyes never left mine...as I started to calm down I reached out to thank the bird with a soft touch and it never moved it let me pet it like a dog....when I stopped crying the bird closed its eyes.....opened its eyes and flew away...sence that day I've always had a special bond with animals of all kinds...and very grateful that I do...i believe animals understand heart better than humans do.

Many years ago I had 4 dogs of various ages. One dog (a shih tzu named Snickers) was very elderly and totally blind. Another dog (an American water spanial named Charlie) was about 12 years old. He could see just fine. One day, I sat on my couch with a package of fig newtons. I called the dogs to me, and prepared to give each dog a fig newton. The 3 dogs who could see all lined up right in front of me. The little blind dog sat a few feet away and was facing the windows, at a perpendicular angle to me. I gave my little toy poodle a cookie, he almost took my fingers with that cookie, and ate it. I gave my pomeranian a cookie, he took it very carefully-so as to not hurt me and walked away and ate it. I then extended my hand out with a cookie to "Charlie"...... the American water spanial. He took it very carefully in his mouth. He walked over to the little shih tzu and placed it on the floor right under her nose, and she smelled it and began to eat it. He then returned to me for his cookie. He cared about the little shih tzu, and wanted to make sure that she got a cookie. He loved her. About a year later when she died of old age, he was severely depressed for 3 weeks. He barely ate, and moved around very slowly. I thought he was dying. Then one day, after 3 weeks he seemed to be okay again. That was an amazing demonstration of both love and understanding between dogs. Charlie KNEW that the little shih tzu was blind, and he fed her a very special treat before he himself had a treat. You can learn alot about love from a dog.

We brought a dog home from the pound. He was scared, distant, refused to come near us. It wasn’t until I gave him a hug wen his behavior did a 180. He wanted another hug, nearly begging in high pitched breaths and whines. They do indeed have emotional and intellectual depth.

I got a pup when I was 14. He saw me through high school, waited for me when I went to college, helped me court my girl when I got back, was with us at our wedding then thought it was such a good idea he snuck out and got married himself (he made the neighbor's dog pregnant). By the time he was 13 he'd slowed down a lot, didn't have full control of his hind legs and where he'd been a bit of a loveable ruffian he became the sweetest most loving old guy. Sleeping for hours at our feet, always ready for a friendly scratch behind the ears which he'd acknowledge with a lazy lick or a single thump of his tail. Then I got a job assignment - I'd be away for about 6 months. My wife was upset but we both agreed it was a great opportunity and I should take it. Maybe she shared her feelings with him I don't know. Anyway, there were a lot of preparations and a lot of activity and he could sense something was up. Then, just days before I was supposed to leave, my wife called me at work to say he had died. Quietly in the yard, under a bush he used to lie under. I didn't quite know how to react. I just got my stuff and started to leave, I needed to get home. As I was leaving my boss saw my face and asked what was wrong - I told him my dog had died. He didn't stop me but I could tell from his expression he didn't understand what was the big deal - its just a dog. But of course not he was my pal and I felt awful that I wasn't with him at the end. Later my dad came by and said something that has stayed with me ever since. He said "I think he knew you were going away again, like when you went to college. And he thought this time he might not be around when you returned. So he left first.". That killed me. Its been 25 years and I have tears in my eyes as I write this.

After our best friend died, her horse, Seeker, was given to my daughter and me. We all boarded and showed together. We could tell he was very depressed and verbally told him we loved him and would always take care of him. All the extra attention and care we gave him wasn't making a difference. Three weeks later, our farrier was shoeing him and asked if we had told Seeker what happened to Dorinda. She said we needed to do that so he won't be fretting and wondering where she was. After she left, I hugged his neck and told him Dorinda had died and wanted my daughter and I to be his mommy. The very next day, Seeker was back to his little tricks and antics. He finally knew what had happened to her and was ready to move on with us.

I'm a retired zoo worker. They changed me. The utterly impenetrable mystery for me is why are all these radiant, sensitive and sentient beings born into such a brutal world? We humans are having an increasingly difficult time reconciling our conscience and morality with our arrogance and appetites.

Many years ago I had the opportunity to visit an aquarium in Hawaii. Early one morning, I was given a private tour by the general manager before the park was officially open to the public. This gentleman had been in charge of the park for decades. As we walked around the park, I couldn’t help but see how happy the dolphins were to see this man. They were literally jumping out the water, doing back flips, basically dancing for joy at the very sight of him. When I asked the man if they always greet him this way. He smiled and explained that this was his first day back after being gone for several months while he recovered from open-heart surgery. From that day forward, I never doubted that animals experience the same emotions that we do.

There seems to be a growing volume of people that are becoming more conscious of the needs of other creatures and prepared to take steps to ensure their continuity.

I can only hope his message sinks in to those who still don't understand that animals deserve to be on this earth just as much as we do.

I once walked into a barn where some predator had killed and mostly eaten several week old kittens. A few seconds later, the mother cat walked in and found her murdered babies...she went absolutely crazy, crying out so loudly and profoundly and running around in panic and grief. I knew without a doubt that she absolutely overcome with horror, grief and sorrow....she was heartbroken. I have always known that animals are "people" too and have feelings just like us. I have always been disgusted when people say they are "just animals" or don't have feelings. I'm vegetarian on and off as well, mostly due to my feelings about animals and the horror that commercially raised meat animals are raised experiencing on a lifelong basis.

One of the best TED talks I have ever seen. Learned a lot about incredible emotional intelligence of wild life. Wish he also mentioned intelligence of animals that humans use for consumption like pigs and cows etc because people don’t make the link between living, feeling animal and their steak on the plate or milk in their cereals (hence so many people laughed when Carl mentioned how we treat crayfish or octopus - boiling - I found it sad and not funny at all) 🙏

When I was young, we rescued a abandoned baby raccoon that wandered in our yard. We didn't let him inside the house as to avoid him becoming domesticated. We fed him, washed him with tick shampoo, pet him, let him play with the dog. He ended staying for a month and left by himself. One of the greatest experience of my life which opened my mind about animals' intelligence. He would grab cherries from the bag my sister and I were eating from, eat all the flesh and leave the core clean with the stem and put it in the bowl we used for scraps. He would crack open peanuts, remove the skin, eat the nut. My father took him hiking in the forest with the dog. Second time he went, as he recognized the route, he climbed a tree and waited there, as halfway my father would take an unnecessary path just to make a U-turn there. The raccoon joined back after. He would be sneaky when trying to steal us, be surprised when caught, then try again with another strategy. He laughed at my dog while pulling her fur and taking a ride on her back. He was extremely curious and enjoyed exploration. He was learning by imitating us, but then went for another task because he already got the value from this and had to fulfill his curiosity and eager to learn from something else. On rare occasions, he did show signs of affection and slept on my laps once. He really wanted to go inside but we didn't let him. One time, the patio door was opened just a inch, he tried to open it, pushed with his arms and legs against the other edge, and he got frustrated because he knew he understood exactly how it is supposed to be open but was just not strong enough. He had a personality. Independent, proud and lean to self-reliance, showed signs of frustration when he failed or even shame, but was also very playful. All and all, I would dare to say that his abilities of reasoning, understanding and solving complex problems were at least equivalent or comparable to a 4 or 5 years old human child. That may seem exaggerated but I'm confident it's accurate. I'm not saying as intelligent in all aspects, I couldn't know. But from observing his behavior, his problems solving skills, yes, for sure. It was fascinating. Seems incredible, while in fact it's totally logical and make perfect sense. They use these skills for survival, just like we did.

"Until man extends his compassion to every living creature, man himself will not know peace". Albert Schwitzer

I suffer from a severe anxiety disorder. I had an anxiety attack a few days ago and I was sitting outside, trying to catch my breath and one of my cats walks up to where I’m at and pops a squat next to me. He comforted me. Same with my other cat. I was having a panic attack another time and my other cat did the same thing. They love and empathize

A presentation I wish the whole world had to watch and think about.

Mr. Safina. The audience’s laughter you endure somehow without wincing, for the animals’ sake, and my heart breaks as you go on presenting - again - for the animals, and for us, the species who has lost its way. Your compassion, knowledge, preparation and laser-like focus are remarkable. Remarkable. I want to join, support, emulate and multiply your efforts. Thank you so much. Thank you.

This should be a required watch in first grade for every human on earth. Absolutely sickens me what we are doing to animals and earth. Thank you for this brilliant video.

I am grateful that I have more animal friends than human. I picked the kinder group on earth. I came from a violent abusive home and never really connected with people on many levels. I believe God gave me a bond with animals of all types to say "I haven't neglected you James I am here in my animals". I was lonely but never alone.

We spend all this time worrying about the "human family," and we forget that literally every living thing on our world is our family

This talk reminded me of a UKposts video, 'I need a hug today' which shows different animals running to their people for hugs, animals like geese and turkeys, pigs and goats. It sure reinforces the idea that animals have feelings and make their own very personal connections with people.

"the greatness of a nation can be judged by the way it's animals are treated" Mahatma Gandhi.

When my parrot Guy, after 3 days of not talking as he was dying, on his last breath he said, "I love you", then exhaled. I KNOW animals have feelings even if they can't tell us...They have so much to teach us if only we would just listen...we are NOT 'top dog'.....HUGS2U

You touched my heart and brought tears to my eyes. I couldn't agree with you more...humans need to use their brains and think about the permanent damage we cause our friends and family!

I first discovered the cat that we got when he was near death from having been abandoned. We arranged for him to be taken to a shelter for medical treatment, and to find his owner from ID tags. When that did not pan out, we were able to buy him from the shelter. I have never experienced such unconditional love and affection from a pet as from him. After nine years, we lost him to cancer, but he lives forever in our hearts ...

"What makes us Humans, is simply that we are the Most extreme. We are the most Compassionate, we are the most Violent, we are the most Creative, we are the most Destructive" , We are the Flood...... damn....

"Everyone deemed worthy to be saved on Noah's Ark is in mortal danger now and the flood is us" On point.

So inspiring a talk that I can't wait to pass it on. A kind of aquatic bird I didn't recognize came up to me in a dark hospital garden when I was locking up as last job of the day. He (as it turned out) looked sideways at me, and I had the intuition that he needed help. I let him into the hallway, tried to feed him (unsuccessfully), took his picture, then phoned a bird sanctuary. From the photo, the expert told me: "That's a Manx Shearwater. They can't feed inland." She drove 40 miles to collect him, then the same distance back to the sanctuary. They released Albert two weeks later, having fed him and nursed him to full health. He flew into the distance over the sea. It turned out he'd been blown 30 miles inland in a storm. The hospital garden had given him cover, but presented its own dangers. He sensed that I like animals and asked for help. Still have his photo!

I believe that some, if not all animals are telepathic. I sleep with my door closed and suffer from anxiety from time to time. Almost without fail, both my dog and later my cat would come to the door and make their presence known if I was having stressing thoughts. It didn't matter if I was laying perfectly still, they knew.

I remember when I was a child my grandparents dog (Laddie) passed away. When I found out, I cried because I was so broken-hearted. I remember them asking me why I was crying and then telling me that it was "just a dog." Later on, my aunt's cat passed away. I had spent a lot of time with her (the cat, named Cinders.) I also cried for the loss of her and was told the same thing.. I felt like there was something wrong with me for loving the animals and for grieving for them when they died. I guess maybe I was ahead of my time? I'm glad that I've always been this way and I don't want to change.

I started crying at 0:51 knowing I would be challenged on my own selfishness. How did we become so arrogant, believing we are omnipotent? Does it count that I am embarrassed to be human? Thank You.

Just watched this again, 5 years later. It's even more powerful than the first time I watched it. Absolute respect to the speaker for his compassion and masterful delivery.

“Humans not only feel grief, they create grief” - says it all. Humans create unspeakable cruelty and grief in the animal world with their exploitation of and greedy use of animals for monetary gain. The very least a human can do is respect every sentient being and not hunt, kill or eat them. Love and respect them like you SHOULD your fellow humans.

Today I took a walk on the beach. Several dogs came up to me. The owners would smile and I would say "He/she knows that I'm a dog lover." One dog owner replied "He picks his people carefully." Wow. That comment just blew me away!

How you treat animals is a window into your character. Gandhi declared " A country is only as great as the way it treats its animals".

The most thought-provoking, insightful, touching piece ever on the case for animal life being equally important to human life on our planet. This talk should be broadcast in schools, universities, workplaces - everywhere.

My dog has taught me how to love again and helped save my life from depression. Animals are so important 🐾 💕

From the time I was very young, I have had empathy for animals. When I was 5, my father took me fishing. It didn't take me long for me to realize the distress I was causing. I didn't eat fish for a long time. As my father was also a hunter, I saw the rabbits, the partridge, the deer he harvested, hanging in the garage or the basement, which I had previously seen running free when we took walks with the dogs. I took a stand at young age to not eat my wild friends, but didn't make the connection with packaged meat in the grocery store until I was a teenager. Our planet and the creatures on it are now experiencing the cumulative stress of human lack of empathy, as livestock are crammed into pens and barns, never seeing the light of day. Their waste products emitting more methane than any other human action. We cannot continue to act unconsciously. We are already experiencing repercussions, big time.

"The flood is us". Damn, that's deep.

I believe animals have strong intuitions and they are intuitively guided throughout their lives. They live in balance with nature and I believe they have a great spiritual connection with the natural world. Animals have feelings too just like us and deserve our compassion and love.

This is such a poignant speech. I am an animal healer and communicator. I do a lot of work with wild animals as well as pets. One thing I have noticed is that certain animals will start to recognize you if you connecting us with them. I used to do a lot of work on Crows and a couple of years after I first started doing work on them I had a crow fly over my car as I was picking up drive-thru dinner and I noticed him. I said hello to him and all of a sudden he sent me a huge amount of Love through my heart that I could feel energetically. I have only experienced this a few other times in my life with dogs I would treat in the park who I didn't know but I always do work on them when I am out and about regardless. The purest love I have felt has come from the animals and I hope to continue to share this message so that people can really understand what they have sacrificed for us not only in the context of nutrition but also in the context of everything they have sacrificed for us in war and helping us survive throughout our lives. They provide us with the greatest Comfort when we are dealing with human conflict or severe anxiety. They are healers as well. I had a dog treat me and teach me energetically for a severe migraine. Our pets heal us regularly. They can absorb our issues sometimes to their own detriment. They are far more intuitive and intelligent than people think for sure. Thank you!🙏🏻💖

I have had a close encounter with a humpback whale. It came up a mere 3 metres from my kayak and looked at me. We were eye to eye and I swear we communicated. It was one of the most profound experiences of my life.

Wonderful presentation.This should be shown in all schools. It's time for humanity to respect the animal kingdom.

We are animals, I don’t understand why we think we are superior. Especially when we ask questions like “do animals feel?” It really does reflect our human ignorance and/or perhaps our narcissism. You don’t need data to prove love and consciousness exist, some things deserve reverence because they just are.

My creatures love me as I love them, I know this, I have been witness to the joy my turkey's have when I get home from work or visiting my children for a few days. My critters get mad at me and miss me and get depressed when we lose one of our family. They think and feel like we do, just differently than we do.

I grew up in an abusive family. When my father would be in a drunken rampage I would hide with my kitten in a very large box with clean rags in it that my mom kept in the basement.I'd cover my kitten and myself with the rags and my father came down to the basement screaming and yelling my kitten never made a sound. She knew I needed her and helped me with intense fear. I've had cats most of my life and they have helped me with PTSD and many other crippling disabilities. I've always known that cats ( and all animals) have intelligentsia not just instincts. I so wish people would understand this.😿

“Our idea of human importance needs to change. We are just another life form on the planet.” Sadhguru

All my animals would call me: "trusted Mama". When my horses ,dogs, cats and even my chickens are afraid or in pain or need comfort...they find me. When I feel that way, I also need them. Our relationship is reciprocal . I would call this love.

Watching our old lab retriever showing his new little sister the ways of the world was so endearing. Old Peyote and I raised a delightful, very well-mannered Daisy. She missed him so when he left us.

This video should be mandatory for viewing and should be shown in schools to teach our children...animals are far more than just animals, and humans do more damage than any other animal.

I was five years old when I sussed out what the meat on my plate was. I haven’t eaten it since. I’m now 47. I bought my daughter up not eating meat but gave her the choice when she was old enough as it had to be her decision. We are both now vegan. Fantastic Ted talk

I can't stop crying!! The world needs humans with your sensitivity!!! May the Universe bless you for this message!! I hope millions of people can watch this video!! I have in my personal jornal lots of stories of my dogs, my cats, my lovebirds, my rabbit my ducks giving me messages, signs...they know, they love, they care!!🐕🐈🐇🕊🦆

I study wasps, and I recall reading that one of the most common species (Polistes dominula) in Europe, and now established in North America and other places, recognizes other members of its colony as distinct individuals, based on facial (clypeal) markings.

"Not to hurt our humble brethren is our first duty to them but to stop there is not enough. We have a higher mission -- to be of service to them whenever they require it." -- St. Francis of Assisi.

I once saw two squirrel rinning and playing, one got ran over by a car coming from my opposite direction. As I looked in the rearview mirror, I could see the other squirrel was devestated, trying to get the other squirrel to get up. It made me cry. The older I get, the more I realize how precious life is in any form. There has been a upgrade of consciousness in this plane we live, and the animals are able to show us more of their feelings.

My late fiancé was a scientist who had strong connection with life/ animals and a deep resentment of the scientific community that really believe animals don’t have feelings. His 6 month old puppy went into clear, straightforward grief when he died. We bonded in mourning.

I love this. I've always known that there's really no difference between animals and humans in the sense they feel - are aware - make choices, etc.. Why even think any differently? Because humans have some weird relationship with superiority. Anyway. love this video.

Why are humans so determined to find intelligent life on other planets, when we can find it right here in the animal kingdom, yet choose to ignore it?

"When the power of love overcomes the love of power the world will know peace." ~ Jimi Hendrix

That very last question hit me like a truck. The sheer audacity of daring to ask "do they love us", is shown once we realize we must ask ourselves "do we truly want to let life on earth continue?"

True story. A college professor friend of mine had a really smart german shephard dog. He had coughing issues because of his throat, from years of drinking. When he would start coughing, he would drink Maalox to coat and calm his throat. He told me one time he started coughing so bad he couldn't get up off of the couch, and the dog ran into the bathroom and brought him the bottle of Maalox.

I have been working with and watching animals for the last 30 years . I can’t believe it has taken the experts this long to figure this out

I believe this is my favorite Ted talk ever. Thanks for caring.

I came to a new place with a broken heart and was outside crying and crying.. a deer approached me and just stood there and listened to me with her eyes filled with intense compassion, and I felt a profound connection and sense of knowing that I was where I was meant to be, and that I was strong enough to go through the pain and it would pass.

After 80 years in this world, I have grown to be sensitive to animals and understand what they are feeling. It has been a long time developing this and overcoming how we are programmed to treat creatures as objects.

I was telling a friend how my sweet, patient cat quietly shed one big tear during a minor medical procedure. My friend thought I was ridiculous and proclaimed that "they don't cry the same as we cry; the cat was merely reacting to a stressful situation." It was later that I realized, that's why we cry, too. Crying is always a reaction to a stressful situation, be it grief or fear or pain or disappointment or frustration. We are more alike than we think.

How wonderful to hear someone talking with such passion about something I believe so strongly. most people don't hear the cows calling for their calves when they have been taken away, either.

The best speech I have ever heard on the relationship between humans and the natural world.

Yes. Yes. Yes! More of this and let the thoughts expand. Let’s look out for all species. Including the undiscovered.

My puppy wakes me up at 3am every day to meditate. At first I couldn't believe this was happening but it is happening. I have been practising meditation for a while with her and I did feel that this is what she wanted so I started doing a meditation for all living creatures (including my global family). I feel renewed and loved. It's strange but this is my testimony about the link of all creation. May we be awaken to consciousness for our own sake.🙌❤

"And the flood is us."--- I've watched 100s of TED talk videos & this ONE just became my favorite!!! Wish we could give more than ONE thumbs up. 💙💚

I had a severe episode of vertigo that went on for several weeks in around 2000. If anyone has had vertigo, you know that it is disabling. A couple of years ago, I had a feeling that I was about to get another "episode". I went and sat on the floor in my bedroom, alone, and focused my eyes on the wall ... daring not to look around lest I would bring on the dizziness and tilt-o-whirl whirling. Within a few moments of sitting down, our little dog came in the room and sat on my lap. She never left me. I sat there for a few hours. She knew. She knew I was struggling. She knew it was something significant that I was dealing with. Animals "know things". They love us.

My dog waits for me, and my family at different times that we go back to home from work, school, gym at the door, she knows all our timetables. She sits there like 15 minutes before we arrive. is so much love in her.

The people who need to see this probably won't. 😭

This man knows what he is talking about. And he is correct.

My husband and I rescued a young cat that decided to sleep and hang out in our yard. The vet told us she's pregnant, we cared for her and her 6 kittens and had families for the new kittens. When the first kitten was adopted I said if for any reason you change your mind about keeping him call me and I'll pick him up. She called me 3 days later that her older cat was not having it, when I brought him back home he was so happy to see his family again, he got so hyper, playing for a very long time with them. Even when it was nap time he kept pestering his brothers and sisters. I had to pick him up, cuddled him until he fell asleep. I never knew cats did that.

Thank you. This explains some thing that happened to me around 55 or so years ago. As a New Zealander of that time most of us had a great love of the hills and bush. Many of us went regularly into the hills on the weekends. Hunting was considered quite normal and a sort of a manly art. So off I went with the 303 and friends and shot my first deer. When I came up to it I saw a most beautiful lovely creature and never shot one again.

"If having a soul means being able to feel Love and Loyalty and Gratitude, then animals are better off then humans."- James Herriot.

"if you do not see God in ALL (all animals, all humans, all life forms), You do not see God at all" - Guru Nanak

The best speech on our wild life I've ever heard. I live with 3 Jack Russell dogs, not a human in sight, they love me, it's in their eyes. The most loyal partners I've ever been associated with.

My cat was born in a barn close to my shop where I work. she was feral from day one. She loves me for sure and communicates with me. She was pregnant and one day she came up to me early in the morning and specifically was aggressively talking to me. When she turned around, I saw that she had blood all over her but and legs. She wanted me to know that she had babies. I have skunks that are under one of the barns during the day and they come out at 7pm to get fed. They are wild skunks but are pretty tame. They come in my shop and walk right passed me, unafraid. The Owls live in the top of an oil rig, they say hi and do little tricks above my head, they let me know when it's their space and time for me to go home from the shop. Im in Huntington Beach on 20 acres. Their are seasonal ducks that cruise by and I feed them cat food. All these animals at my shop are pretty happy until the coyotes come out at night. They are careful. My cat is 7 years old ( Meow Mix) and to this day, she is feral but only I can pet her and give her Love. She is super special and I knew her since she was born. I knew she would be my kitty when she was just a baby. She looked at me and I knew. She knew. I feed her good food and tuna. She loves me and comes over sometimes just to talk and hangout, lays on her back and plays. What a gorgeous cat, looks exactly like the Meow Mix cat so I called her that.

My cat stares at me and tells me when it's time to go to bed...lol I love him he answers me when I ask " Hi Kitty how you doing?" He says "Errrr" So cute

We aren't even the extreme he says we are … well, maybe in cruelty, but certainly not in compassion. I read this about a baby rhino stuck in the mud: it's Mom had no better idea than trying all manner of motivation for him to get out by itself. Which it couldn't. The sun climbing up, the mud dried and hardened by the minute… An elephant heard the baby's cries and came to investigate, but got chased off by the frantic rhino Mom. That (female) elephant hung around though. Mom, in desperation, thought to get the lazy baby out, by "ok, stay if you like, I'm off! Good bye!" and trotted out of sight. (And being a rhino, out of earshot) That's when Mrs. Elephant stepped right back in and began digging around the baby, who's struggles had wedged it ever more firmly into the hardening mud. She made good progress, but the rhino mom, who had, of course, been bluffing, came back too soon, saw the elephant atop her baby and attacked! Lucky for the elephant, she wasn't stealthy about it. Jumbo jumped aside and sped away. The weakening baby was still stuck. It's Mom tried in vain to coax it out, marching off again, calling all the time… As soon as she was out of the way, the elephant returned! She then managed to grab the little rhino, and pulled it out. That is a true story.

Vegan for 8 years since I realised that my habits, culture, tradition and desires are not reasons to dictate when a life should end. Animals are someone, not something. Eye opening speech.

I have never trusted adults as a child I was abused by my grandad watch my mum being beaten. And it was our pets that gave me love. It brakes my heart with the suffering humans inflect . Thank you.

This man is Right. Animals are not food. They are not clothing. They are not entertainment. They are not test subjects. They are not here for us, They are here with us. The question shouldn't be whether they love us, It should be whether we love them.

I always talk not only to my pets but to my wildlife. I had a nice conversation with an owl last year, as he sat in a tree, listening to me. :)

I've taught my daughter, that there isn't a single trait that makes the human animal unique, cormpared to the other animals. Instead, it's the combinatin that makes our species unique. Then again, that is true of any other animal species as well. ;-) We should realize the differences, but at the same time, I learned a lot raising my dog as a teen, that also later made sense applied to me raising my daughter. In between I studied some psychology, and everyone, including my lecturers, smiled at my constant references to my experiences raising my dog, when discussing things like growing children. I think, reading Jane Goodall on Chimpanses using tools as an 11 year old, confermed my view that we are just another species of animals. That was not a general notion at the time. At that time, using tools was claimed to be a special characteristic and unique to humans. There have been other claims of unique traits in humans, to satisfy some need of ours, to make us special, and sort of not an animal among the others.

This is one of the best talks I’ve ever seen on UKposts. I hope more people see this & take it to heart. Animals are much more intelligent than most people think & they are sentient beings that deserve our respect.

Animals have feelings, emotions, & thoughts, we should take care of them.

To love animals is to treat them as equals.

I have 2 dogs and 2 indoor cats. One day both dogs were at the sliding glass door barking incessantly. I assumed they were barking at a squirrel taunting them and tried unsuccessfully to quiet them. When I got down on “all fours”, I saw both cats had gotten out. They were definitely letting me know something was wrong. We humans need to tune in to the different ways our furry family may communicate. 🐾💜🐾

Hands down...one of the best TED talks I have ever had the pleasure of hearing. Well said, sir. Very well said. Thank you.

I had drawings of giraffes on my wallpaper as a kid. They’re still my favorite animal. I’ve been vegan for a year and will never go back. Why? Because animals.

His point about scientists' conventional attitude to "anthropomorphism" is brilliant to hear. We can't know for sure what animals are thinking or feeling, but we can observe brains and behaviour. We are in a very similar position regarding other humans. But, if it looks like (say) love, and it acts like love and has the same effects as love - guess what - the chances are, it's love. Spot on.

Animals are incredibly sensitive to our inner state. Sometimes it's disturbing to me because I will notice animals shying away from me and I know they sense something threatening inside me... And I know I have my issues... but I don't always understand why I am the way I am or how to change and be better. I wish so badly that I could be the type of person that animals would throng to because they sense my good intentions... And sometimes they do... It makes it feel worse when it seems like my issues which they feel threatened by stem from my being abused which I did not have control over and now I'm suffering further from the abusers' actions because animals--and people alike--sense something is wrong with me. One step at a time I suppose...Healing doesn't always come quickly. On a separate note, my dog, Rocky, is so incredibly patient with me even when I am not the most patient with him. He continually teaches me how to be better and I swear he's a friggin angel or something even though I don't know how I feel about such ideas lol. He just showed up in my life one day without me looking for a dog and I somehow I knew we needed each other.

We see beauty, empathy, intelligence and consciousness in our fellow animals. We should celebrate all of this as part of our existence. Non-human animals have the right to exist. It's their planet too. We should love and respect our fellow animals by exercising common sense and compassion. We can stop destroying their world. A great talk by Carl Safina.

That was beautiful, the fact that humans still enjoy bull fighting shows what a messed up species we are...

I would have given two thumbs up if I could. Such an important talk.

Mark Twain - 'The more I learn about people, the more I like my dog.'

I loved this! I feel so deeply for every living thing. It makes me so sad how much destruction and devastation we cause 🥺