Can cows cry from grief?
Cow tears, people cry, June 1 read in NRC in a story about food designer Adelaide Tam, who had looked after Romie 18, an Eindhoven red fur, for two years. Some readers thought that was an unnecessary bomb under the piece about dealing with animals. One reader was even comforted by his dog, they cried big tears together. Another writes: Animals have emotions. Cows with tearful eyes are frequently shared online by animal activists to expose the suffering in factory farming. But when we ask Saskia Arndt, professor of animal behavior at Utrecht University, whether cows can cry, she replies: I am not aware of any research that shows that animals produce emotional tears. However, sometimes more tear fluid is produced than the tear duct can drain, for example due to dust or dry air. And then just like that, a tear can trickle out of those big dark eyes. Recognizability and cuddliness  We humans have a tendency to mirror ourselves in animals and to interpret tears in an animal as an expression of a certain emotion, Arndt also says. In her inaugural lecture she describes the problematic side of this humanization: we especially feel empathy for animals in which we recognize our own behaviour. But for the animals, the recognizability of emotions by humans is irrelevant. Arndt believes that we should reason from the animal point of view. And then there is little left but behavior to infer the emotional state from. Frank van Eerdenburg, from the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, also in Utrecht, has looked a lot into the behavior and emotions of cows. There is no doubt that animals have emotions. Emotions such as fear are very primary and developed early in evolution. Emotions are necessary for the individual and the species to survive.  For a cow going to slaughter, as a social animal there is enough to be afraid of. First they are removed from the group and they come with all strange cows in a truck. Then they enter a room full of noise, commotion and strange smells, and then they are also hunted. And although you are not allowed to humanize animal behavior, cows do show behavior that you also see in humans. Van Eerdenburg pretends to punch through the screen. A cow also recoils when it is in the pen where it is stunned before slaughter.  Increased heart rate  A cow is stressed in many ways. Such as an increased heart rate or adrenaline and cortisol levels. But we are also working on facial recognition. For example, by looking at widened eyes, muscle tension, movements and the position of the ears. You dont have to be a scientist for that. A good farmer can also read his cows. If only we could talk cool, we could just ask how things are going. Linguist Leonie Cornips has already started researching the language of cows, says Van Eerdenburg enthusiastically. He must into the microphone. When I enter the stable they greet me too.  So there is still plenty to research when it comes to the emotions of cows in the slaughterhouse. But to show that cows have emotions, that tear is not necessary.