Artist Reply: Mark, I could write a book on your question. No we are not the most loving of the animal kingdom and depending on how you measure intelligence, we are inferior to many given our limited and narrow range of perceiving and thinking. I have lived and observed animals all my life and have the greatest respect for their devotion, genuine and loyal love and altruisim in the face of adversary when many are heroes protecting our lives despite the risk to their their own survival. You answered your own question and for me there is no debate given the self-centered and malicious people who mistreat and abuse animals and certainly don't deserve the love and devotion of an animal companion. In fact, I wish there were more laws in effect to protect animals as we do children. I have read many books and could give you a list of some wonderful books about canines, their bond with humans and their unconditional love. They do not have malignant intentions and have served us well through the centuries with their uncanny intuition and extra sixth sense that humans lack living their self-absorbed lives. Dogs give our lives so much dimension and are our guides to a better world. It is beyond my scope of reason to understand how such amazing and sentient beings can be abused, neglected and tossed away to survive on their own only to land in kill shelters. I am a very devoted animal activist and hope one day to do more than I can now to preserve and protect the many animal species that are at risk due to human consumption and greed. This list is long including your precious tigers and my heart goes out to the polar bears, wolves, chimpanzees and many other species that will become extinct without the active intervention of the decent and wonderful efforts of humans like yourself who understand the limitations of our species and underestimate the intelligence of our devoted companions. I was thinking about you when reading Dr. Farmer's book on animal spirit guides that is a scholary study of how animals are our spirit helpers and healers. I will stop now or I wlll be writing until the sun comes up so I will offer you more comments on your provocative and very important question that I wish more people would think about. I often hoped that Clifford Simak's science fiction book City was reality because dogs ran the world and humans were inferior creatures. We would have a much more peaceful and civilized existence if we had the deep capacity to love and bond as shown in this photo of one of the very tender and touching moments I am fortunate to see everyday I could not live without animals who are part of my family and my dearest and most loving friends who I hold in high regard. I can't say that about the majority of the human species. I am reading Caroline Knapp's book, Pack of Two that is a very informative and touching account of her relationship and observations of her profound bond with canines.