Thousands of years ago, when humans were still nomads and the Ice Age winds howled across the land, a pact was silently made between two species. Wolves, drawn to the scraps of human camps, edged closer. The fiercest and most aggressive were chased away or killed. The gentler, braver ones stayed — and over generations, they became something new: dogs.

Humans shaped them deliberately. We bred them for hunting, for guarding livestock, for pulling sleds, for companionship. We altered their very DNA to suit our needs. We made their ears floppy, their tails curl, their faces softer. We bred loyalty into their hearts so deep that it became their defining feature. And in return, they guarded us, worked for us, and loved us without question.

This was not a gift we gave them — it was a contract we wrote into their biology. They didn’t choose to stop being........

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