is special about all of them

this is about interrogating why people think pets are different from livestock, something common to mammals (and talking about desires gets a little weird, but anyway) isn't going to be the difference between them.

You're explicitly acknowledging anything could be a pet that is meaningful to someone but some just get the shit end of the stick and are killed after a lifetime of torture instead

yes. although to slide in part of another comment i saw pop up while typing this

If it's purely the label of pet, we get back to the comment [queermunist] replied to

i think it's the social relation itself rather than the label being a talisman. We even attach to inanimate objects the same way sometimes.