The implicit assumption is that we should not eat "intelligent" animals. How does it matter? Which animals are pets and which are food is largely a cultural agr

The implicit assumption is that we should not eat "intelligent" animals. How does it matter? Which animals are pets and which are food is largely a cultural agreement. Humans are very good at creating abstract mental categories - this "dog" is my pet, but this other "dog" is my food. There are several communities in the world which keep dogs as both pets and food[1]. Not to mention the whole issue of defining intelligence itself. In context of this article, the better way to put it would be, pigs are more anthropomorphic than dogs in their reactions. One could make an evolutionary case for not eating humans, and the tendency to not eat animals that seem more "human" can be seen as a side-effect. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat#Pet_breeds https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dog_meat#Pet_breeds