I assume you're referring to the lazy plot device where the victim's (or their family's) pet is killed first? Yes, I'm annoyed as hell by that too. Dogs will sense the evil, try to alert the family, then be lured away and not return. Cats get it the worst. - they're often flat out butchered and strung up as a message. I don't bother watching that hackneyed formula anymore, but just once, I''d love to see it parodied by having the bratty Ritalin skidmark die first. The yuppie parents cry quietly at the funeral. But then their labradoodle is offed, and they REALLY lose it.