Antisocial personality disorder is absolutely in the DSM (which, frankly, is not necessarily a good yardstick for whether something is “real” or “a disorder”) but in most casual use-cases “sociopath” is just synonymous with “asshole”. I can’t speak to diagnostic criteria or the politics of that terminology, not knowing much of anything about it.
The phenomenon of animal lovers who cannot bring themselves to show respect or compassion for human beings, however...that’s real, whatever you want to call it. Frankly, the animals in question could usually use less “love” and more respect and compassion themselves. I’m not talking about lonely people with pets for companionship, I’m talking about a very specific and unhealthy type of behavior where pets are seen as an extension of the self, and treated “well” only for that reason, which is what I think James Ross was trying to say.
