I don't know about you, but when I think about the cruelty and sadism of the 20th century, I think about all of the wars and mass murders. Animal cruelty sort o

I don't know about you, but when I think about the cruelty and sadism of the 20th century, I think about all of the wars and mass murders. Animal cruelty sort of pales in comparison to all of that. I'm not saying this to deflect from your question; I literally think this is part of the explanation. Going back to poor Laika for a moment, you could adapt an old, morbid joke: "we're going to murder all the kulaks and one dog." "Why the dog?" "Why the kulaks?"