Sorry - "nice" is no defense. Pigs are nice too; so are cows and sheep. Dogs are also intelligent enough to be used as guides for the blind, as resuers etc. Clearly intelligence is not a defense either.

Let's test the envelope (I am playing devil's advocate here): How about dolphins?

My argument is that many of these "codes" (yes to this animal, no to that) are self-imposed and based on emotional, rather than logical, reasons. Example:

Some years back, I had taken the whole department from Belgium on a "gastronomic weekend" in the Ardennes. 8-course meals no less... The menu was in Flemish, and I spoke some Dutch (similar) - my wife did not yet. At some point she asked "What is next?" and I checked the menu to see that it said "faon". Now, I didn't know the word yet, but I guessed correctly that it was deer, from the similar pronounciation ("faon"=fawn). Next comes the interesting bit:

My wife had eaten deer in the past, without it being an issue. But my response to her question was "It's Bambi next, love".

That was it - she did not touch the next course. The association with a Disney character was enough to put her off.