Are animals really not equal?

[tantric]

i get so much mileage out of this story...

Zhuangzi and Huizi were strolling on a bridge over the River Hao, when the former observed, “See how the minnows dart between the rocks! Such is the happiness of fishes.”
“You not being a fish,” said Huizi, “how can you possibly know what makes fish happy?”
“And you not being I,” said Zhuangzi, “how can you know that I don’t know what makes fish happy?”
“If I, not being you, cannot know what you know,” replied Huizi, “does it not follow from that very fact that you, not being a fish, cannot know what makes fish happy?”
“Let us go back,” said Zhuangzi, “to your original question. You asked me how I knew what makes fish happy. The very fact you asked shows that you knew I knew—as I did know, from my own feelings on this bridge.”

and from an animal behavior/science point of view, yes, you can pretty much know when a dog is happy. can you know what a happy dog feels like? do you know what a happy anyotherperson feels like? empathy - you have evolved the ability to do so, or at least convince yourself of that and make it work. and no one can tell the difference.