In his 1949 book, So Kam de Mensch auf den Hund, ethologist Konrad Lorenz tells the story of the co-domestication of humans and dogs.

The German title could be translated as “How man ended up with dog.” The German title is also a play on the phrase “Auf den Hund kommen,” which is a common idiom in German-speaking countries and probably comes from the old days when farmers with economic problems had to sell their livestock animals and ended up with only the dog (thanks, Wiki).

Lorenz, in a rather harsh passage, says that those who direct their love towards animals rather than humans are committing an act of ‘social sodomy’. Since ancient times (a vague word, I apologize), the term sodomy has referred to practices in which semen is dispersed or used in a non-fertile way: anal sex with people of the same or different sex, intercourse with animals, and so on. A non-reproductive and, in some ways, antisocial use of sexuality. I believe that Lorenz draws on this tradition and its weight in calling the relationship (not erotic, but still loving) with pets ‘social sodomy’.