People have more sympathy for dogs than adults: study

This June 26, 2008 photo shows Hazel, a lab mix, in Los Angeles. (AP / Seth Casteel)

Have you ever noticed that people seem to cry more when a dog dies in a movie than when a person does? There’s now some science to back that up.

Researchers have found people get more emotional reading a story about a beating if the victim is a dog rather than an adult human.

Injured puppies and children elicit the same amount of sympathy, followed by full-grown dogs, while a grown person evokes the weakest reaction.

Study author Jack Levin, professor of sociology at Northeastern University in Boston, said age is the biggest factor determining how concerned we’ll be about someone’s suffering. Species is a secondary consideration - apparently favouring dogs.

“Contrary to popular thinking, we are not necessarily more disturbed by animal rather than human suffering,” Levin said in a press release. Unless we’re talking about adults who can fend for themselves, that is.

“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,” said Levin.

In the study, college students read fictional news articles about the beating of either a one-year-old infant, a 30-something adult, a puppy, or a six-year-old dog. The stories were identical except for the victim’s identity. Participants were then asked to rate their feelings of empathy towards the victim.

The study focused on dogs, but the study authors expect the results would be the same for cats.

“Dogs and cats are family pets,” he said. “These are animals to which many individuals attribute human characteristics.”

Levin and co-author Arnold Arluke, also from Northeastern’s sociology department, presented their findings at the 108th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association.