I'm a strong believer of what you just typed here. This because of dozen's of own experiences that I had in my life.
Already when I was a kid I always knew very quick to connect with whatever animal that came on my way.
most people don't even Remarque these little things and are to busy with feeling superior . It's a shame because they are very aware and have more consciousness then we humans one would say sometimes.
a perfect example is when I was sleeping in a squad some time ago, there where some people that arrived uninvited with bad intentions. They wanted to steal the money of the party that was in the same room as I was sleeping but my dog stayed up all night to stop every attempt when someone try'd to enter the room .
what I'm trying to say is that she was very aware that these guys where up to no good, and she saw it as a danger to me so she acts on what she realizes, feels , see , smells, hears , like every living creature does.
only a lot of people are to ignorant to even want to see this .
and this is only 1 experience , and I have a dozen of these examples of experiences that I had, and this with a lot of different sort of animals domestic and wild ....
That is a good experience. I will say that I did not type it. It is a quote from the reference I posted.
I have several animals and I believe all are very conscious.