Thanks for the thoughtful response Henry.
I do get where your coming from. There is much scientific controversy over this.
There is no way I could prove love by my animals.
My belief that animals have emotions like love is more than a case of 'believing something is true makes it so'.
We can sit across from one another, have coffee, and talk and argue and debate and there is no question, for either of us, that our coffee companion is another 'I'.
Well I would look funny talking to a dog in a coffee shop :P
Seriously, I think anyone sitting with with you debating and having coffee would be very happy to do so.. You seem to be a very interesting person even without a wagging tail.