Fury over Jennifer Lawrences dog reveals a culture that puts kids last

Jennifer Lawrence is being pilloried for doing the one thing parents are morally obligated to do: protect their child.The actress’ dog bit her young son, and she rehomed the pet with her parents.End of story. Or it should have been.Instead, the internet erupted with outrage, as if choosing a child over a pet is some kind of moral failure.“She should never own any dogs or pets if she thinks like that,” sniffed one Instagrammer.

 “YIKES,” wrote a former fan.“I hope people don’t think this is normal behavior.”“I would rehome the kids,” another declared.Let’s be clear about what actually happened: The dog bit a child.At that point, the debate is over. Parenting doesn’t allow for vibes-based decision-making. What makes the backlash even more absurd is that the dog got off lucky: Often, a dog that bites a child is euthanized immediately.Lawrence chose the most humane outcome available — and she’s still being treated like a villain.This fury exposes how warped our culture’s thinking about animals has become.Dogs are increasingly treated as moral equals to children — sometimes even as more deserving of protection.Emotion is confused for compassion, and anyone who refuses to play along is cast as cruel.I’ve seen this up close.

When I was a child, I was attacked by a neighbor’s German shepherd.I was the third kid it bit on our block.One of the children before me needed surgery on his hand; I walked away with permanent nerve damage.Their pet was sweet and loving, the owners insisted (don’t they always?) — just “reactive” sometimes. My mom offered our neighbors a deal: She wouldn’t sue if they put the animal down.Her ultimatum made block parties considerably more awkward, but it protected every other kid on the street. Dog owners shouldn’t be rolling the dice with any child’s safety to preserve the fantasy that love fixes everything. This kind of denial is on full display in America’s shelters, which are overflowing ...