I love my pets profoundly. I have sacrificed immensely for them.

But I would blow my brains out if I let a little girl burn to death so that I could save my dog.

I'm completely in your camp. I don't know if I would blow my brains out. But the guilt of saving my dog over a child, would, at least for a while, completely consume me, and forever haunt me.

This comes closest to how I feel.

You are responsible for your dog, unlike a stranger. The dog trusts you entirely and would do anything for you.

How do you know that dogs have none of this? Until recently, people believed animals were just automatons (can’t find the famous quote..) and we have in more recent years discovered animals to be a lot more intelligent than we ever gave them credit for. We’ve also been discovering that a lot more animals are self aware than we ever thought (eg. There was a story here a few years back about how elephants recognise themselves in mirrors, but only if the mirror is large enough that they can see most of their bodies)

> How do you know that dogs have none of this?

If they did, they'd want to let us know. Now cats, on the other hand...

If you disagree, that's fine, but at least do so politely.