A research study (“Are People More Disturbed by Dog or Human Suffering?”) investigated whether people would be more upset by reports of dogs suffering or by reports of people suffering. To explore the question, 240 undergraduate students were asked to report how empathetic they felt in response to hearing about an individual who was brutally beaten. The descriptions of the assaults were made-up news reports that were identical except for the identity of the victims, of which there were four: a 30-year old person, a one-year infant, a six-year old dog and a puppy. The news report described a situation with a series of attacks, including “one particularly vicious assault” with a baseball bat that resulted in finding the unconscious victim with one broken leg and multiple lacerations.
via Whisker Therapy