Susana Monsó

“[…The] mirror test also presupposes that the tested animals care about their appearance in one way or another, for something like this is necessary for them to have the motivation to interact with the mark that has been placed on them. However, it’s not immediately clear that other animals are vain enough to care about their own looks.”
― Susana Monsó, Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death

“There are descriptions of self-mutilations in animals who are locked up in zoos, as well as in laboratory rodents who have been administered stimulating drugs. Cases have also been reported in domestic animals. Some horses, for instance, have shown a tendency to bite themselves, as well as kick and lunge at objects. Among cats and dogs it’s also relatively common to see compulsive self-licking, nibbling, or scratching, which in extreme cases can result in serious injuries…

Somewhat more suggestive cases are of dolphins who have supposedly ended their own lives. At least two cases have been reported, both occurring in dolphins who were captured from the wild and held captive in inadequate conditions. One is dolphin Kathy, the “actor” who portrayed Flipper for the longest period of time on the TV series of the same name. The other is Peter, a dolphin from the 1960s led by John Lilly, which involved the psychedelic drug LSD, zoophilia, and attempts on behalf of the experimenters to communicate verbally and telepathically with the dolphins. Both Kathy and Peter ended their own lives by voluntarily stopping breathing, according to the witnesses.”
― Susana Monsó, Playing Possum: How Animals Understand Death