Last time I also has the same thinking till I have a dog. Dogs genuinely wants to be with humans and they can love you unconditionally. No other kind of animals can do that. You don't eat something which you have a connection with.
My mum don't eat beef because during the Japanese occupation, the Japs were slaughtering cows in the open and she saw that the cows who are in the queue were crying as their brother and sisters were being slaughtered in front of time. Which other animal can do that?