In this third opinion piece as part of our Wellbeing & Veganism research programme, Researcher Network member, Summer Philips , considers the link between nature, animals, happiness, and wellbeing. If humans could purr, one would imagine they would do so frequently. We are tactile and emotional animals and experiencing happiness and pleasure are favourite pastimes. We don’t need detailed scientific studies to be able to acknowledge the feelings we experience when we are emotionally uplifted, however, the scientific theory is interesting. Evolutionary theories suggest that humans didn’t evolve into their current physical form and then have emotion conveniently dropped in, but that emotion has evolved with us on our journey to where we currently stand. (As an aside I would like to note that we stand on a branch of the evolutionary tree and certainly not at the top of it! I would suggest reading Frans De Waal [1] for more on what he terms ‘antropodenial’.) Have you ever spent time