They can be victims and be bastards.
A police dog, put in a position to hurt you, will.
A police horse out in a position to hurt you will try not to.
Drug dogs were probably the worst example I could have chosen. A better example would have been a dog used to attack people. They may have been trained and treated with various degrees of mistreatment to do so quite so enthusiastically, but they know they’re hurting you.
The police horse uses what agency it has to try not to hurt you.
If someone forces you to drive a car through a crowd, you’re still morally culpable if you try to hit people. If you do your best to avoid hurting anyone within the confines of what you were forced to do you’re pretty much in the clear.
Considering the stakes of bastarddom are pretty low, I’m willing to judge an animal based on what it would do with its limited autonomy.
They can be victims and be bastards.
A police dog, put in a position to hurt you, will.
A police horse out in a position to hurt you will try not to.
Drug dogs were probably the worst example I could have chosen. A better example would have been a dog used to attack people. They may have been trained and treated with various degrees of mistreatment to do so quite so enthusiastically, but they know they’re hurting you.
The police horse uses what agency it has to try not to hurt you.
If someone forces you to drive a car through a crowd, you’re still morally culpable if you try to hit people. If you do your best to avoid hurting anyone within the confines of what you were forced to do you’re pretty much in the clear.
Considering the stakes of bastarddom are pretty low, I’m willing to judge an animal based on what it would do with its limited autonomy.