This really is a hard one to read. Most likely because it points out things about ourselves that we don't like to look at. But sadly, yes, all ownership of animals is about power. We have it,they don't. Some of us temper our power with mercy, but that is totally at our discretion.

Because we the "animal lovers" can own a dog, so also can the fellow who beats his dog to death with a two by four and duct tapes it's mouth closed so no one can hear it's screams. Their very helplessness is what attracts us to them, and yet it is also their downfall.

At the end, at the very root of it is our "ownership" of animals. But even recognition of this, brings no solution.