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Great find, Tobi! I hadn't seen that page and have bookmarked it. My bookmarks are a long list now, LOL! All that is written in the article is confirmed by what I have experienced myself with other pets who were very close to their caretakers.
Catherine, your article is a heart-string puller, too. As for the so-called behavioural experts, they must be living on another planet, or their observations have never included those with very close bonds. A laboratory is not the right place to observe unconditional love between pet and caretaker.
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All animals mourn those who they have been close to, who pass. And I think some even mourn those they didn't know....the reason I say that is I went for a walk a few months ago, and saw a dead Badger in a field. I couldn't see it very closely as it was down a slope slightly from the little lane where I was walking. But it looked as if it had only just recently passed. There were cows way across the other side of the field.
I carried on with my walk and about an hour later, returned the same way.
This time cows had gathered all around the Badger. Two lay down near it, gazing at it. The others were gathered in a semi-circle, all very quiet and peaceful, not grazing but just paying the Badger (I am sure) some form of 'respects'. I stayed there for a while, and the cows didn't leave the Badger. I wondered if it was just curiosity....but there was a kind of calm among the cows which conveyed something else to me.