Hmmm. Depends. A pet. Or a stranger. Lets strip off the guise of a stranger. Lets look at this simply as a human being, a member of your race. He/she has probably lead somewhat decent life, possibly similar to your own. Put yourself in their shoes. Then you have the pet. Again, lets strip the title and simply look at what it is. An animal. A dog or cat, maybe a hamster that has existed in its life to live with you. But this dog/hamster has no mental capacity to do something innovative or good, or something negative or bad that a human could do. It all boils down to how you look at the world. Are you choosing between a pet and a stranger, or a human and an animal?