Why Dogs and Humans Love Each Other More Than Anyone Else shares the long history of interconnectedness between dogs and people ending with a simple explanation for why we are so connected: LOVE. We love dogs. But is it love or changing morals?
For sure dogs serve many of our needs. 44% of us own dogs- that’s a 29% increase in the past decade alone! (check it out here) and that number rising. The question is – why? My answer is: In a world of superficial connectivity and rising depression and anxiety, due to loneliness and the facade of social media bliss in which we all share, we’ve chosen to turn to dogs over people.
We now have more trust in our four-legged friends than in ourselves or our peers. Our failure to connect with each other leads us to find alternatives… and dogs are ready to step in for people. And we’ve returned the favor by elevating dogs to human status. That’s the part that gets me. At the end of the day, a person is human and a dog is an animal.
To treat animals as people, is the next step to treating people as animals, or even treating animals and people the same. Neither option appeals to me.
One of the reasons we people grew into the modern, civilized society we are is that we learned that humans are elevated beyond the animal kingdom. We no longer rip parts of a living animal apart to feast when we are hungry. We no longer live in the wild exposed to elements. We build families to increase the likely-hood of our children reaching productive adulthood. We value human life and save it at every cost. People are not animals. And animals are not people. Why pretend otherwise?
So, as wonderful as dogs are, and I have one too… Feeling Lonely? Find a human friend. Stressed? Talk to a human friend. Need exercise? Work out with humans. Scared? Find a human friend. Insecure? Find a human friend. Want a kid? Build a human family.
What do you think? Would you save a stranger or your dog?
