We Aristopeters know that our animals feel. They feel joy, sadness, anger... We know they love us. And they know we love them. We know their emotions well because we spend hours and hours with them. Because we treat them for what they are: one more member of the family.
Humans have lived with dogs for over 40,000 years and shared our history with them. Cats appeared in our lives a little later, 9,500 years ago, but even so, it's a very, very long time, don't you think?
The relationship with animals has not always been as it is now. The status of animals has evolved (fortunately) over the years. In certain religions and cultures there were sacred animals. In ancient Egypt, pigs were sacred; in India there is an ancestral festival called Nag Panchami, where snakes are worshipped; in China, tigers are worshipped; while in India, cows are. In Nepal, dogs are believed to be messengers of the gods and to guard the gates of heaven, so 
November 14th is their day.
As you can see, there are quite a few examples, but generally animals have been despised for centuries. Without going any further, Descartes even said that animals were "automatons devoid of feelings." Descartes: so wise for some things, but for others...
The situation continued like this until Darwin arrived. He was the first to realize that all living beings have the same origin and to challenge the protocol of the time, which treated animals as inferior beings.
Thanks to him, the path towards animal empathy began, and it started to be understood that the emotions of many social animals are similar to ours (sometimes even nobler). There were studies with birds, insects, fish, rats, chimpanzees... And even with gorillas and humpback whales.
Less than a century ago, ethology, the discipline that studies animal behavior, emerged and gradually grew, until now there are specific chairs in major universities, such as the Chair of Science for Animal Welfare at Washington State University.
Today, animal self-awareness is being debated. There is talk of mirror neurons and that elephants, dolphins, dogs and other "social animals" rank highest on the list of species that could possess the biological mechanisms for at least a primitive empathetic response.
Regardless of the scientific advancements in this area, we Aristopeters know firsthand that our animals get angry and jealous; they get sad and worry about us. They are happy and understand us better than many people around us. That's why we treat them with love and respect, we understand their rights.
The universal declarations of animal rights, European laws and directives, and legislations in European Union countries (such as Spain, where the Penal Code punishes domestic animal abuse) are very good, they are a great advance, but there is still much to be done regarding animal rights and for this, the most important thing is to make humanity understand that animals have emotions.
At Aristopet, we have set out to unite and become strong together. Sharing our story with our best friends can be a good, simpler way to bring all this research closer to the vast majority who are not sensitive to animals. So we invite you to share with all Aristopeters those stories or anecdotes that make you sure that your animals feel, understand, and love.