Letters to the Editor
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Distinguishing between cruelty toward species
There's a big difference between slaughtering livestock, and slaughtering dogs. The latter have been domesticated and brought into intimate personal relationships with human beings. It's like slaughtering a family member in my opinion.
Furthermore, it's disloyal. Domesticated dogs are so dedicated to their owners, they'll take a bullet for you, they'll stay up waiting for you... they'll sit by the front door to guard the home like it's their job. No other species has shown the same dedication to their human masters. I think they deserve a little more loyalty from humans than we'd show to chickens or pigs.
So I'd argue dogs, Canis lupus familiaris, are specially deserving of a more honorable position than "dinner," based not on any real physical difference in the pain and suffering of the species, but on the basis reciprocal loyalty.