I don't understand what that comparison is intended to prove.
Sure, a 5-year-old is more eloquent than a dog, but throughout history there have been lots of 5-year-olds that were still enslaved, along with adults that were even more eloquent and intelligent.
My point is that talk is cheap. It's one thing to agree that a sheepdog has freedom of speech, but there will be a lot more resistance if we start talking about reparations for years of sheep-herding labor.
We are having this conversation assuming a society which rejects slavery in principle. Given that rejection, I don't see how past history of enslaving people is relevant to questions of the future–unless one supposes that rejection is going to be reversed at some point, which seems unlikely.
Sure, a 5-year-old is more eloquent than a dog, but throughout history there have been lots of 5-year-olds that were still enslaved, along with adults that were even more eloquent and intelligent.
My point is that talk is cheap. It's one thing to agree that a sheepdog has freedom of speech, but there will be a lot more resistance if we start talking about reparations for years of sheep-herding labor.