Before anyone jumps on my case about saying that animals are dumb, let me give you a vocabulary lesson. The word 'dumb' technically means mute, or unable to speak. So, Anna Sewell has got this totally right. People insult animals when they're upset. Verbal abuse hurts animals as well because they can tell intuitively when people are angry,which can often leads to physical abuse, such as kicking, swatting, etc. that can leave permanent physical and psychological damage to animals who can't speak up for themselves. We should be ashamed of ourselves for picking on the weaker man, so to speak. Basically, I think this is a brilliant quote, and paired with this photo, it is absolutely heart-melting. I hope you like this image as much as I did!
