Can Animals Be Friends? A BabagaNewz Face-Off!

Consider this:
Every day for weeks, a cat at the Biblical Zoo in Jerusalem would walk over to the monkey cage and stand close enough so that the ape could reach out and stroke it. One day, the ape grabbed the cat and lifted it into the cage. Why? It wanted to snuggle.

What do you think?
Do animals experience emotions like friendship and loyalty? Read the following opinions and then join the debate online at babaganewz.com

Dr. Frans de Waal, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia says
YES
Animals experience friendship.

“Aiding others at a cost or risk to oneself is widespread in the animal world. Altruism (helping others and not expecting anything in return) is not limited to humans.”

“Friendships help animals survive. The leader in a colony of chimps may not necessarily be the strongest or the biggest, but the one who has the most friends and can fight off attackers.”

Jack Bieler, a teacher at the Melvin J. Berman Hebrew Academy in Rockville, Maryland, says
NO
Animals do not experience friendship.

“Animals will protect their young but that’s not altruism. I believe that it is rare for one member of the pack to make a sacrifice or take a risk for another adult. Most relationships between animals are functional. Hunting, reproducing, and rearing the young meet a common need- the survival of the group.”

“People, however, are altruistic. Judaism teaches that when called upon, we are supposed to put another person’s needs ahead of our own. Furthermore, Judaism teaches that human relationships should not be motivated simply by survival or by pleasure. We believe God created us betzelem Elokim (in the image of God). We should always strive to behave in ways that bring us closer to holiness.”