More on "The Souls of Animals"

I'm going to write here what I didn't have room for in my review. In all honesty, I felt that this book was a bit ridiculous. I was hoping that there would be a few counterarguments or even some scientific backing, but all is contained was sentimental anecdotes and exaggerated religious undertones. I suppose I should have realized that this was going to be the case when I saw that it was written by a minister, but I wanted to give it a chance. I have to admit that the story of Koko and her kitten was heartbreaking, but seriously, people can twist things to mean what they want them to. Maybe Koko wasn't crying for her kitten; maybe she had an eye infection (just kidding...sort of). I guess being a cynical reader really didn't give this book a chance in my hands. Oh sure, I'd like to believe that my pets feel something akin to love for me, but what I consider to be love could just be my pet's knowledge that I am the almighty food-giver. Half of me would like to believe that animals have souls or something like that, but the other half of me needs more proof. The fact that this book was written by a religious man also sours it for me because of my experiences with religious men and women forcing their beliefs down my throat. But I digress.
I do consider myself an animal lover, don't get me wrong, it's just that I don't know if I can accept that animals have an "animal religion" as talked about in the book. Sure, I can believe that animal mothers feel an affection for their offspring, but creating a "barnyard nativity" with flowers? Come on, now that's just plain silly!