animals with human characteristics

Doing research on character design, I have found a lot of images of animals that have human characteristics. It is obvious that the subjects shown in the images are animals. However, the emotions and characteristics conveyed through the facial expressions of these animals can all be associated with that of human. When I look at these animals, I do not believe they are just that. It is almost as if they are humans and are capable of communicating through their expresstions without any words.