The London Times has disturbing results from research it carried out recently. People love dogs more than they love adult people.
The research was done by placing 3 ads asking for assistance. One was for Harrison the dog and two of them were for people with the name Harrison. The ad read: “Can you donate 5 pounds to help save Harrison from a slow and painful death?” In one ad there was a picture of a dog named Harrison, another ad had a picture of a baby named Harrison and the third ad had a picture of a 30 year old adult man named Harrison.
People were asked questions about how they empathize with those pictured and who they empathized with more. The results were that “Harrison the baby” was on top receiving the most empathy, Harrison the dog was next and Harrison the adult received the least empathy.
The worrying question is why people care more for the suffering of an ailing dog than for the suffering of an ailing adult?