A sweet, innocent dog dying through no fault of its own actually has very little connection to some selfish luvvy offing himself because he might have to sell his mansion.
The emotional loss of the pet owner because of the deceased pet and the emotional loss of child because of the deceased parent has a definite connection. Death is permanent and whether those left behind lost a pet or a parent they both still permanently lost something or someone.
I'm not sure why this is hard to comprehend?
I also don't buy the notion that "TA lacks empathy". I read the thread about the loss of his dog and he completely related to others that had also lost.
Again, given that I find it hard to believe that he would do that to this woman.