Does YOUR pet love you back? GMB viewers are left furious as expert claims animal aren’t capable of feeling ‘complex emotions’
- Good Morning Britain presenters broke out in debate over whether pets can love
- Journalist Dr Zoe Strimpel insisted animals can’t feel complex emotions or love
- Meanwhile reality TV star Pete Wicks said his dog showed him that he loved him
- Viewers were left furious after the debate with many slamming Zoe online
Good Morning Britain viewers were left furious this morning after a guest insisted that pets could never love their owners back.
Writer and historian Dr Zoe Strimpel called her controversial opinion ‘a reality check’, as she clashed with TOWIE’s Pete Wicks over whether animals can feel ‘complex emotions’.
The reality star insisted that his dog was a ‘sentient being’ who, despite not being able to talk, can express his love in other ways.
Viewers were left stunned by the segment and slammed Zoe over her opinion, with many taking to Twitter afterward to voice their frustrations.
Journalist Dr Zoe Strimpel and reality star Pete Wicks clashed on Good Morning Britain as they debated whether animals could ever love their owners back
Viewers were left stunned by the segment, with many slamming Zoe for her controversial opinion that animals can never love humans
One wrote: ‘Not gonna sit here and take some random woman telling me my dogs don’t love me. #gmb #goodmorningbritain’
Another commented: ‘Of course our pets can love us! My cat calls out when she doesn’t know where we are and always wants to be near us and cuddle. If an animal can learn and show emotions, they can love humans.’
While guest presenters Adil Ray and Ranvir Singh waded into the debate, Adil cradled his dog Robin on his lap.
Zoe insisted she was there to bring some scope of reality to the conversation, saying: ‘You should own your love for your pet.
Dr Zoe Strimpel left many viewers in shock with her controversial opinion which she deemed ‘a reality check’
‘You can love your pet, but there’s a reality check here which is that the pet doesn’t love you as you love your pet.’
Adil noted: ‘But isn’t that humans as well? Humans might be in marriages and relationships, always questioning do they love me or not….’
But Zoe responded: ‘I think we can say not all humans love other humans. Some humans are not capable of love, but no pet is capable of the kind of love you’re after.’
Reality star and animal-lover Pete couldn’t help but jump into the conversation, saying: ‘Based on what? Everyone is capable, if you’re a sentient being, you’re capable of love.’
Meanwhile presenters Adil Ray and Ranvir Singh cuddled up to Adil’s dog Robin, insisting the little pooch could love it’s owner
He added: ‘People are capable, they just don’t.’
But after Zoe pointed out that animals ‘aren’t people’, a clearly frustrated Pete continued: ‘But they are sentient beings capable of complex emotions.
‘My dog Eric suffers depression and anxiety, that’s a complex emotion, they should be able to express love as well.’
Zoe responded: ‘Some of those are natural reactions. I like to think of love as a complex human emotion.’
The two guests clashed as they debated whether pets could feel complex emotions, with Zoe insisting she was right
But pet lovers Adril and Pete said they couldn’t understand why love was ‘just a human emotion’.
Pete explained: ‘Eric suffers separation anxiety when I’m not around. It’s not just that I feed and walk him, I do do that by the way, but it’s not just that.
‘If I’m not there, he won’t eat. Just because dogs can’t physically say I love you, it doesn’t mean they don’t show you in different ways.’
But Zoe was determined in her debate, saying: ‘I love dogs, I had really adorable dogs growing up as a kid, but they seem to do things that we project our human things onto.’
Meanwhile Pete and Adil couldn’t help but slam Zoe for her view, with the pet-owners saying they were sure their animals loved them
Pete revealed his dog suffered separation anxiety whenever he was away, and told that despite his pet not being able to say it, he shows his love in other ways
She continued, adding that saying animals could feel love was ‘almost insulting to the innate dogginess of the dog.’
Saying that she hated when people doted over their pets as if they were babies, she went on: ‘They are cuter than some human babies, and you should look after them. But I get concerned when I see people roasting chickens for little Popsy or whatever.’
She added: ‘The key for an animal is to run around outside. I cringe when I see this, when people are worrying about the dietary requirements, they get in your bed. That’s too much. The dog can be on the floor.’
An infuriated Pete responded: ‘Just because they can’t tell you they love you doesn’t mean they don’t show signs of love.’
Zoe said she cringed when people treated animals like babies, and said dogs should ‘sleep on the floor’
Presenter Adil insisted that his dog Robin felt complex emotions and showed his love during the debate
But the journalist went on to say: ‘We’re all saying just because he can’t say he loves you doesn’t mean he doesn’t but it kind of does?’
And when Ranvir joined the debate by suggesting cats don’t feel love either, Pete couldn’t believe it.
He said: ‘That I don’t agree with. Anything that is capable of feeling emotion has emotion, that is a sentient being, can feel love.’
Viewers were left stunned by the debate, with many siding with the reality star over his opinions, and slamming Zoe’s controversial view.
Many viewers were left stunned by the segment, and slammed Zoe online, insisting that their pets were capable of love
One posted: ‘@P_Wicks01 enjoying you on Good Morning Britain! Cheers for standing up for cats! Animals are definitely emotional.
‘My mum injured her back, stayed with my aunt for care. Aunt has super hyper dog. He didn’t leave her side and stayed calm and let her lean on him to help her walk.’
Another wrote: ‘This woman on GMB is starting to wind me up.’
One commented: ‘Dogs are not just pets. They are family and they do show love and affection to their owners. They sense you unwell and don’t leave your side. They are more loyal than people. Mine stresses out when we leave him with family if we go away and crys.’
One added: ‘Pets are capable of love including cats. The whole argument about not being able to verbally say they love you is just plain ridiculous.’
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