14 DAY TRIAL // Experiments carried out with the help of 240 college students have shown that most people are more affected when learning about an abused puppy, dog or infant than they are when hearing about the ordeal of adult crime victims.
Researchers theorize this is because, unlike adults, puppies, dogs and infants are labeled by most individuals as incapable of protecting themselves and therefore vulnerable.
“The fact that adult human crime victims receive less empathy than do child, puppy, and full-grown dog victims suggests that adult dogs are regarded as dependent and vulnerable, not unlike their younger canine counterparts and kids,” specialist Jack Levin at the Northeastern University in Boston reportedly said in a statement.
“It appears that adult humans are viewed as capable of protecting themselves, while full-grown dogs are just seen as larger puppies,” he went on to argue.
As was to be expected, this series of experiments also revealed that women were capable of more empathy than men, regardless of whether the victim was human or nonhuman.