trevor's blog

It's fall, the leaves are falling, and branches are falling along with them. Rusko absolutely loves to grab those branches, twigs, and sticks while we’re outside on our walks. Within minutes of relieving himself, Rusko has a stick for me. Sometimes he wants to play fetch. Sometimes he just wants to chew it. I’ve always thought it was cute, but while I was watching him chomp on a stick the other day, I remembered something I read about online. It seems harmless, but it turns out that stick chewing can be dangerous.

A new study conducted by Northeastern University (Boston) shows evidence that humans feel more empathy with dogs than they do towards similarly aged people!

While to us pet parents and animal lovers, this might not be surprising at all, it is still an interesting study. The research considered the results of 240 men and women, mostly white, between the ages of 18-25. They were told fictional stories about either an animal, a child or an adult being beaten. (I know I know, a little rough, but hey, they’re trying to create results on empathy here!)