yes

I was reading a post on Reddit where a gf was objecting to getting her cat an "abortion", but when the bf asked what she was going to do with the kittens she said "I don't know, I suppose I'll let someone take them down to the river again like last time"

Indeed my girlfriend has her own vet business now, and every now and then people come and tell her "I was going to throw these cats/dogs to the trash bin, but perhaps you can make use of them". On other occasions, the animals are just there before she opens shop, and sometimes they are so young (I mean, less than a week young), that she has no option but to sacrifice them (because it is not possible to feed them)...

I think it's because the common domestication of such animals only strengthens the cross-breed relationship for an entire species. Over time, we build these "feelings" for animals and start to become attached to the ones that we see the most.

The farmers see them daily and still eat them.

Also, we don't see wild animals often but we still hunt and eat them every year. So I don't think the familiarity with the animal is a factor.

I think it's just tradition to eat certain animals and not others.

What's the difference between eating a dog or a human?

I see a lot of "wild" animals in my area. A couple of days ago, there were a pair of turkeys on the road.

Probably the most plump and healthiest feathers.

I would imagine dog meat doesn't taste very good to humans (the same as I would imagine wolf, bear, and lion meat wouldn't), but I can't say I'm necessarily against eating them. After all, we're already destroying tons of them every year, essentially wasting the material they're composed of... If there are people willing to consume them then that leaves more 'actual' food for the rest of us.

I will say that dogs can be far more useful when put to work, doing things like hunting, tracking, pulling, etc., but as I already said we already have too many dogs in existence for humanity to take care of them all (and many breeds have lost their instincts to survive in the wild).

I heard that dogs evolved from wolves that discovered an abundant food source at human garbage dump sites. No more need to hunt and struggle to survive. In time, they lost much of their wild side, probably all the while interacting with humans, getting hand outs, etc. Allegedly, these wolves evolved into what we know now as dogs (though many of what we have now are also bastardized breeding experiments). In any case, it's the instinct they developed to take advantage of our gullibility that makes them give us those eyes and whine the way they do. Ever seen a wolf whine like that? No. Wolves wouldn't get their way just because they whine. The pack leader would put them back in line. Dogs adapted to living with people as a survival strategy. The easy life. Essentially, they're playing you.

Apparently, cats and rabbits taste so much alike that you wouldn't be able to tell them apart. Which is why it is customary to leave the head on rabbits when slaughtering - shortly after WWII, a lot of cats were sold and eaten as "rabbits" in Europe.

Reminds me of a heartbreaking story my grandmother sometimes tells about their neighbours, who had a cat. Apparently, during the winter of '44/'45, the husband brought back a rabbit for dinner. The wife was saving up some of the meat for the cat during dinner.
Apparently she threw up when he told her there was no point.

It seems that Americans prefer to eat animals that are vegetarians. Why?