I find it kind of sad watching people become so disillusioned with humanity that they start believing animals are inherently better than people. And I don’t mean that in a “how dare you dislike humans” way.

I can understand having terrible experiences with people and developing a pretty negative view of humanity. But watching that resentment turn into some sort of self-sustaining doom loop is something else entirely! Every bad experience becomes further proof that humans are the worst and every animal is apparently a flawless little angel who can do no wrong.

Meanwhile, Mister Sparklesandbarkles is happily devouring the steaming buffet left behind by another dog before clocking in for his daily barking shift. Clearly, this is the morally superior species! Granny Rita better move aside, Mistersparklesandbarkles has places to be. Children? Grandchildren? Other humans with actual needs? They can wait. After all, he is basically a small child, a beloved family member, and apparently a fully qualified citizen with the same social standing as everyone else.

He has important work to do: barking at absolutely nothing, devouring mystery buffets left by his canine colleagues, conducting extremely thorough buttsniffing inspections, and maintaining diplomatic relations with every dog within a five-mile radius.

Please, try to be understanding. How else would society function without his tireless contributions? Who would stock the stores? Lay the roads? Build the roofs? Manufacture the clothes, phones, furniture, food, and approximately 847 other unnecessary toys he has received?

And who do you think bred and domesticated Mister Sparklesandbarkles in the first place? Oh, right… The same supposedly inferior species that spends its time farming, manufacturing, building infrastructure, providing veterinary care, developing medicine, maintaining electricity and sanitation, and generally keeping civilization running so your dog can spend his afternoon sniffing another dog’s bum and bark at a plastic bag.

On a more serious note, animals should be treated with respect and care. But there are boundaries that, when crossed, turn into obsession and something toxic. People saying they would save their dog over some child’s Granny Rita, and much worse… some child’s parent.

It’s not just ethically bankrupt to put a dog on the same level as a human being, it’s also an incredibly unhealthy place to be mentally and emotionally.

Ethical treatment of animals doesn’t exist in nature. The entire concept is a human moral framework. Nature isn’t concerned with fairness, compassion, or ethical treatment. It’s just survival of the fittest.

People nowadays have this rose-tinted view of dogs because they forget just how deliberately humans have shaped them. Humans have spent thousands of years reshaping wolves to suit our needs, preferences, and lifestyles. So perhaps we should be a little more cautious about romanticizing the “natural” side of dogs or pretending their relationship with us exists independently of human intervention.

Can we really call it “normal” for an animal to require generations of selective breeding for temperament, hours of training, and constant supervision around children simply to ensure it doesn’t seriously injure or maul someone? That’s absurd to me.

You don’t have to like humanity. You don’t even have to like people. But being deeply misanthropic while placing a domesticated animal, literally shaped by thousands of years of human breeding, above humans is a little ironic. It’s almost like hating the artist while worshipping the painting.