[noidi]

Thanks for the thoughtful reply. Don't worry, I'm clearly out of my depth here, so I'm not going to debate you on this particular point any further -- you win. :-) (I still stand by my original statement, but I'm unable to put my point to words as well as you can yours.)

What bothered me about the article, and prompted my original, poorly worded, reply was the fact that dogs are treated with more empathy and respect than other kinds of animals (even to the extent of harming other animals to bring them joy). To me this humane attitude seems so intuitive that I feel like it is not so much consciously learned to be felt for dogs as suppressed for all other beings. I don't think there's anything special about dogs in particular since they are not given the same status in all cultures. It's not about their utility either (anymore): most people get dogs because they feel sympathy for them, and not the other way around.

As you seem to be knowledgeable about ethics, do you happen to know of any books that deal with this tendency of humans to strongly empathize with some animals while having no trouble harming others? I'd like to read more about the issue from any viewpoint, be it ethical, psychological, or cultural. I'd like to better understand my own, intuitive worldview, which departed from mainstream when I started thinking about these issues, as well as that of people who do not share it.

[philwelch]

It's not an ethical thing, more a cultural thing. White middle-class Americans are affectionate towards dogs. Other cultures eat dogs, or have the dogs fight for sport. Why the difference? That's actually an interesting question. Not one I'm equipped to answer, though.

I'd investigate your assumption that being herded by dogs causes sheep any harm or suffering, though. It doesn't really seem that obvious to me that it would.