DAVID POGUE: In the last decade, a growing number of new studies are showing us that many animals, not just dogs, do seem to have a capacity for rudimentary moral behavior, to feel empathy and help each other out in ways we used to think were uniquely human. And, in the process, they're giving us new insights into the roots of our own morality.

BRIAN HARE: Why are humans moral? What is morality? Where does it come from? Well, we go study animals, and they can tell us a lot about the answer to that question.

DAVID POGUE: Friederike Range would agree. She's testing dogs, here at the University of Vienna, in Austria, and suspects humans aren't the only species with a sense of fairness.

FRIEDERIKE RANGE (University of Vienna): Hi.

DAVID POGUE: I'm David.

FRIEDERIKE RANGE: Friederike. Nice to meet you.

DAVID POGUE: Nice to meet you.

FRIEDERIKE RANGE: This is Guinness.

DAVID POGUE: Range is about to teach me how to conduct a simple experiment to test whether dogs have a sense of fairness.

Paw.

At first, I just ask Guinness for her paw….

Paw.

…and give her nothing in return.

Paw. Paw. Paw. Paw. Paw.

We do it 30 times, without a problem.

Paw.

That a girl.

Then Range brings in Guinness's pal, Toddy.

Paw.

Now I ask both to give me their paws. But, when Toddy does it, I give him a tasty treat.

Just as before, Guinness gets nothing.

Paw.

Paw. To the good little boy….

And Paw.

At first, Guinness keeps it up, but after seeing Toddy get rewarded for doing the same thing, she starts to whimper and then goes on strike.

Paw.

Range has done the same experiment with dozens of dogs and seen exactly the same result. She believes it's evidence that dogs know when they're being wronged.

If you could write a script for the sorts of things that they're thinking, what would it be.

FRIEDERIKE RANGE: One possibility is, yes, "It isn't fair. He's getting food, and I don't. Why should I work for free while he's getting rewarded?" It's really difficult to avoid the word "fairness..

DAVID POGUE: Other experiments—with ravens, elephants, chimps and monkeys—are suggesting that we may share moral traits, like fairness, with other species.