“Anyone who has pets can identify with this story.”
I must be honest with you, I could put down my pet without much of a problem. It’s not like it would fill me with glee, but, I see animals as animals, not soul mates.
I think if you consider an animal a soul mate you are projecting too much. It is inappropriate for people and to me is indicative of a problem.
While I agree with you that pets should not be considered a human’s equal, some people don’t have, for whatever reason, the capacity to form deep human friendships.
For some people, it is a life of complete solitude or some level of interacting with a pet.
In this case, denying this man his dog left him without options.