If so, that would be an amazing "instinct." Yet we must admit, something drives us to help even a bedraggled kitten up a tree. And it is simply a fact that many have died trying to rescue animals from fires, floods or other threats. This is worth contemplating. The impulse to do so is anti-survival and thus it defies a Darwinist explanation.
I wince when I think of the resources, time and money we have dispensed over the years on behalf of animals, the sacrifices we would make for them. As I type this, a stray cat we rescued in France ten years ago, sits at my feet, pestering me without pity, knowingly interfering with my keyboard. He will prevail and as usual I will offer him something better than most cats could ever find and he will probably snub it.
I could relate countless stories of how our dogs dominated our attention.
Yet we never had a problem discerning the role of animals vis a vis humans, never were able to understand placement of animals in a status comparable to or superior to human life, although the quality of some humans does cry for such a comparison.
PETA Trial, Day 7: Letting the Cat Out of the Bag (So To Speak…)
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