How about we take this guy and you, and toss both off a 5th floor balcony. Let's see if your kids start crying.
You can try :) better than you have tried, you might be the one crying.
My point is we have had pets die not just dogs but horses and such and once my boys were over about 13-14 they didn't bat an eye.
I have taught mine not to instill human qualities to animals that come and go seemingly more frequent than family and friends.
The cruelty of the father should be addressed but the humanizing of animals has to be turned down a bit.