Âé¶¹´«Ã½

Why do I love my dog when there are no evolutionary benefits? (Part 2)

One reader ponders whether dog owners would have an advantage over cat owners when it comes to survival

15 June 2022

A senior black couple playing outdoors with their two dachshunds

Adamkaz/Getty Images

Why do I love my dog when, in evolutionary terms, there are no benefits to me? (continued)

 

Sean O’Curneen Brussels, Belgium

It is easy to see how domesticating wolves and loving dogs may have helped the development of human society, through improved hunting and farming.

Whether dog-loving humans could one day thrive over people who, say, love cats is a question I have thought carefully about.

Could walking a dog once or twice a day – while clutching a poo bag – ever become a necessity for human survival? I think it would be such a dystopian scenario that I,…

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