Write in: Why do people care more about dogs than people?

The dog in the film "Independence Day." When this dog survived the explosion, the cinema I was in erupted into applause.

I got a good question in my inbox the other day.

Hey Jim,
My name is Henri one of the readers of your book "Riveted". Amazing stuff by the way!
Book made me wonder a one Question.
Why people feel more feelings when human is killing a dog in th1e movies? But when human is killing a human if feels like just a normal day.
Have you never wondered about this & do you have some kind of thought why?

My answer:

Glad you liked the book!
I don't know any data on this, but I think people think about dogs like they do children. So I think that when a dog is hurt on screen, people respond kind of like they would if a child were hurt. So what I would predict is that they would be just as disturbed by a child being hurt on screen as a dog, and the difference you are thinking of would appear only for adult humans being hurt on screen. 

You can see my book at http://www.jimdavies.org/riveted/