Dogs are soppy - shock claim

Research (though who knows who's paying for it) has shown that dogs can demonstrate empathy towards each other.  No shit!  Despite empathetic skills being commonly thought to reside only in the higher primate species (though some humans may be exempt), some scientists - peer review please! - now claim that it extends to canines.  I thought it was known for years that wolves had empathetic skills hence their ability to operate so effectively as packs rather than tearing each other apart.  Dogs aren't so far down the gene pool from wolves that they would lose this trait.
I've seen a cluster of stray dogs hang around on a corner abutting some of Bucharest's less busy thoroughfares as if they were humans.  I've seen dogs constantly on the fields near me being very attentive to each other.  Once when a very big dog accidentally rolled over a very small dog in an overly frisky game of chase and a pronounced shrill yelp was elicited, the smaller affected dog was furious at this seeming betrayal and his larger friend was as sheepish as dogs can look.
It's not just canines.  Once, when the grass had grown particularly quickly in the summer, one of my parents' cats - named Kay - was chasing butterflies amongst it.  As he surveyed his quarry, ready for the pounce, his tail waved up back and forth in the air.  At this point, his brother - Barnaby - came outside and from his vantage point, all he could see was a furry snake arcing back and forth out of the grass.  He immediately leaped at it and bundled into his rather bemused brother - the butterfly flew off.  Showing remorse, Barnaby licked his brother for unintentionally colliding with him.  Now, observation is only part of the scientific arsenal but I'll never forget that moment for as long as I live.