Yup, nothing related.Have you read what the Catechism has to say about animals?
Then I would conclude there is no definitive teaching related to your OP.Yup, nothing related.
The Church holds the position that animals are not capable of rational thought. This does not exclude other forms of thought produced solely through material/biological processes.What is the Churchs position on the extent of the animal mind?
The Catholic encyclopaedia is critical of the Cartesian concept of the animal mind, does this criticism reflect the attitude of the Church?The Church holds the position that animals are not capable of rational thought. This does not exclude other forms of thought produced solely through material/biological processes.
The rational part being that an animal cannot decide right from wrong nor is it capable of sin or rejection of God. It has no choice but to glorify God by its existence. As is obvious from observations of animals, their minds however would appear to be more than simply material/biological responses to various stimuli. But these observations would not rule out that their apparent mental faculties are nothing more than complex chemical response to these stimuli. One thing as of yet unverifiable is whether the ‘spark of life’ that makes a material composition alive is also what is responsible for an animal’s seeming thought processes. We must be careful not to place too much dependence of our faith on the idea that these thought processes are outside of the material realm simply because science cannot as of yet readily explain it. The danger is that if one day it becomes readily explainable, it would spell danger to those who hold such ideas, of losing their faith.I’ve spent my life working around animals…first horses and now rescue dogs and cats. I agree with the Church that animals are not capable of rational thought, but from experince I can say they do feel love, fear, pain, stress, and can sometimes have excellent problem solving skills.
One story that has always stuck in my mind was about Koko the Gorilla, who was taught to speak sign langugage. Koko had a kitten, who grew into a cat and eventually died of old age. When her handlers asked Koko where the cat had went, she pointed upwards and signed “sky” to them. So rational thought, no, but I think it’s possible they know more then we give them credit for…and that they might even have a residiual knowledge of the existence of God.