Anyone else find equating pets and animals with humans to be rather strange?

[haele]

55. Thing is, Fido might be drowning because he was attempting to save that child in the first place...

I know people who have dogs that are trained to assist and rescue, and have seen dogs (and cats or other animals) challenge perceived threats to the people or other creatures that those animals feel are under their protection.
I have seen animals act with an unusually humane sense of "mercy", and with reactions and attractions akin to what we call emotion - and this without anthropomorphizing their activities.
There are certain altruistic activities that are recognized as beneficial to the survival of a species or ecosystem no matter what species one is observing; that are part of evolution. That includes why there are examples of apex predators that show mercy and even "kindness" to a prey animal once the necessity of the hunt is over.

That being said, the classic "save a child or your dog" argument against PETA and "other animal rights organizations" as rather unfocused, rather like saying someone can't walk and chew gum at the same time.
First of all, most dogs can swim better than most people.

Okay, one can - and should - be aware of the ethical and humane treatment of animals, as that is an indicator of how other people will be treated. In most cases, someone who is capable of inflicting pain on animals is also capable of inflicting pain on other people.

The person who will not jump in to save a drowning Fido will probably also not jump in to save a drowning human child.
The person who treats everything like a possession would jump in to save a drowning Fido, because Fido has worth to him/her, but probably would at best stand at the shore and point to the drowning human child that otherwise has no worth.
The person who loves both Fido and people in general will be the real one in a quandary; "do I save my beloved companion or do I save someone else's child?". Then there are other factors in play with the decision; social class, racial or sexual bigotry, mental health state etc...
If it's both their dog and their child that are drowning... well, I would hope they would choose their child.
In my case - I can't swim well enough to save either without drowning myself. But I would try to save both, and would hope to be clever enough to find a way to do so.

I can see having a problem with someone saying "I know how it feels to lose a child because my dog died". It's an insult to those non-psychopaths who have lost a child (my husband lost his son to SIDS, so I'm very aware of how it affects him), no matter how attached to your dog you may be.
While a companion animal or "pet" is as dependant on a person as a child is, that bond of dependency does not usually come from the same place. The closer comparison to the death of a companion animal is "I know how it feels to lose a friend because my dog died." And we (me and my husband) have no problems with someone expressing that. We have both lost friends, and we have both lost companion animals that depended on us as the equivalent to "parents" or pack leaders. The feeling of loss is similar to those who have experienced it.

So while PETA and "other animal welfare groups" may use pretentious or (honestly) silly tactics to promote or bring awareness of the need for humane and ethical treatment of animals, I would make the point that the treatment of "lesser animals" reflects the treatment of "fellow animals" - so casual, inconsiderate, disrespectful treatment of animals for sport or for personal pleasure reflects the capability for the same casual, inconsiderate, disrespectful treatment of other people for sport or personal pleasure.

So, can we walk and chew gum at the same time? Or is being aware that there is a sentience in those animals that deserves some sort of respect so one shouldn't cause distress to or torture an animal for sport or pleasure means that you would let the child die for Fido?

BTW, I'm a proud omnivore that respects my food, and a considerate pet-parent that knows my pets won't survive very long if they didn't have someone to take care of them, because they have been raised to be dependent companion animals rather than working animals.
I know where my meat comes from. And I know how it's raised and processed, so I go out of my way to try and ensure when I do get meat, it's raised and processed as humanely as possible.
And if an animal has evolved to have a long migratory range and has the intelligence level of a 8 to 10 year old, I know that to pen an animal with that level of intelligence is as cruel as locking up an average human being in one room with a balcony "for exercise" for the rest of his or her life.

Haele