The Savior’s teaching “clearly defines ancient Israelites’ regard for the dog. Unlike in modern Western society, the dog in Israelite culture was not ‘man’s best friend’ but an ill-respected scavenger” (Ogden and Skinner, Book of Mormon, 2:174). Additionally, “‘swine’ and ‘sow’ are mentioned in the Nephite portion of the Book of Mormon with a tone of disgust (3 Nephi 7:8; 14:6). That’s what we would expect among people who even nominally followed the constraints of the law of Moses on eating pork” (Sorenson, Ancient American Setting, 297).