do i care more about animals than people?

so, this morning on my way into work i saw a something that disturbed me greatly.

there was a homeless guy crossing the street with his dog. both of them were in bad shape. the dog was walking so slowly it was painful to watch. it was some kind of long hair breed and on it's back the hair had been shaved away to reveal some scabby welts.

it looked like the guy was not being particularily nice to the dog as he coaxed it across the street, but to be fair, i was in a bus, so i have no idea what was actually being said.

anyway, i found the plight of this poor sick dog heart breaking.

so this is where it got really disturbing for me... for some reason i cared way more about this poor sick and injured dog than i did the homeless guy coaxing it along. do i care more about animals than people? (yes, i know people are animals too, but you know what i mean).

here's the theory that i'm using to make myself feel better... i do care about the humans, in fact, i have been known to cry after walking past homeless people sleeping outside on a really really cold night, but... people have a choice. there are shelters, there are medical clinics, there are, i don't know, options. i mean, i'm not for a second saying 'if that bum would just get a job and be done with it', i know there are way more complexities than that, and i am not saying that it is the persons fault they are on the street, but there are options, there are choices. the dog, the dog doesn't really have any option or choice.

yep, that's what i'm telling myself so that i don't feel *as* horrible for caring more about the dog than the man.