Well, as a professional archaeologist who studied and specialized in the prehistory of the NE USA for over 20 years, dogs were buried along side of many humans in prehistoric cultures. That is the good part. The bad part is that they all died very young (humans and dogs). I've excavated many many dog burials and many of them were modern (in people's back yards as the bulldozers came through to put in that new highway, gas pipeline, etc.).
I think that things are much better than they were even as far back as the fifties. But in some places in this country (and in other places in this world), dogs still don't stand much of a chance and are not thought of as something of value. If you saw the latest Oprah show about puppy mills, you will have learned that many people today think of a dog as a beast of burden and would be shocked at the thought of a dog being inside of a house.
Although we have come far in placing value in animals, we still have very far to go in some places to catch up.