Eating something that trusts and loves you seems like a betrayal, and nearly as loathsome as cannibalism. I hope I’m never that hungry.
They are clearly livestock.
If TSHTF, the first people to get over the social taboos of eating PUPPIES! and KITTIES! and other cuddly critters will be more likely to survive than others— especially in urban terain.
For me, it won’t even take that much hunger; if I and mine have no meat, and the animal within rifle range is made of it, the animal is going DOWN. If it’s wearing a collar, oh well.
In this story, Vic makes a rather different decision . . .