[j_timberlake]

They're not innocent, they kill even when they're not hungry. If people evolved empathy towards them because historically they killed pests, that would explain why people love little murderers. The fact that the animals "don't know any better" isn't causal, mosquitoes don't know any better either.

[GuinansEyebrows]

"knowing better" implies a societal framework that animals just simply do not participate in.

i'm not a fan of housecats (based on their environmental impact) but i'm not going to hold them individually responsible or liable for things they legally cannot partake in (murder).

[ninetyninenine]

We evolved empathy towards them because of superficial cute features. Like puppy dog eyes and other endearing child like features. Dogs are evolving towards a parasitic role by hijacking our biological instincts to care for things that are small and cute. This instinct never evolved t the point where it specifically only applies to human cuteness because such selection pressure was unneeded. There were human babies and that’s it.

Dogs took advantage of this situation and they evolved to hijack our paternal and maternal instincts. Now there is selection pressure. But note dogs reproduce much much faster than humans so this will be an evolutionary arms race where dogs get cuter and humans become less interested in dogs. The first round comes when the people who have dogs instead of kids fail to reproduce. Also Expect an increase in dog allergies over time.

[atmavatar]

I like cats as well as dogs, but it feels obligatory to include this:

https://theoatmeal.com/comics/cats_actually_kill