The editorial stance of Defector vis-à-vis dumb pets is: We're for them unequivocally. Or that's what it was a few days ago, before we watched this video of a dog that chewed a battery and started a small house fire. Now that stance is somewhat qualified.
The first thing to know is that everyone involved in the puppy arson is OK. None of the three animals shown in the video, or their unseen human companions, were harmed. The fire happened in May, but the Tulsa Fire Department posted the video last week. You'll notice that the cat wisely bolts out of there, though the dogs' flight is delayed by the beautiful glow of the fire. They try barking at it, which doesn't work. Eventually they are so mesmerized by its candescent gleam that they can only stare.
What were they thinking? I'm the wrong person to answer that, though it's clear that they communed, briefly and violently, with a power they only faintly understood. Maybe these mothbrained dum-dums were displaying dorsal light response, thinking they had created a new sun by sheer force of chewing. Or they were just doing mental math to figure out how long they had before their family returned home.
