Would you save your pet or a stranger's child?

[NotADailyMailJournalist]

Hello all

Slightly inspired by another thread where posters were surprised that people were more interested in someone's dog than their baby...

If you have a cat/dog and you could only save it or a stranger's child/baby, what would you choose?

For the purposes of this thread, no-one would ever find out you'd been given the choice, so you wouldn't face any consequences.

Thanks

It's about your dog and a strangers child, not the other way around. Unless you want to take the question to a different level altogether? I'd not save a random dog over my own child.

Would you save a stranger’s child over your own child? If not, why not?

Not that this stupid imaginary situation will ever happen, but I’d save my animals.

I have some great humans in my life, but the majority of humans are a disappointment. 😅 After many years of being a people pleaser, going out of my way to help others, putting others first etc, I’m done.

Now I do what is best for me and my own.

I am childfree and love my pet.

But ofcourse I value people over animals!!!

I MIGHT save an especially cute puppy, over a particularly arse-holeish adult with no redeeming qualities...

I can empathise with that stance @StayWithUs

My dog.

I love him. And I’ve never met a better human. That’s all I need to know.

It is a completely different scenario and in no way EVER comparable to an animal.

I'd like to say I'd choose the child, but I fear my automatic instinct would be to save the life I love over someone I don't know. It's not because I value animals over humans, it's just because love is a powerful motivator.

I'm vegan and don't have children. I have had several rescue dogs. I can say with certainty that I would choose a child's life over any of the dogs I've loved. The reason being is I would not want to/could not live with myself if I caused the immense suffering to someone if my decision was reversed. I'm also aware that children can live potentially for many years, and my oldest dog was 15. I also like to think I'm rational.

Yes, it would cause me great pain to let my dog go, but I'd take that given the choices.

I wouldn't choose any human over my dog though. I'd happily choose my dog over abusive and violent humans.

Saving a pet over a child makes you an absolute nutter.

It’s despicable

Yes, it is. You would (presumably) save your own child because you are responsible for their safety (and it would be a betrayal of your duty to protect them not to do so), and because you love them, and because you would feel terrible if something happened to them. Whereas the death of a stranger’s child would not affect you the same. Is that selfish? Yes, and so what. No one owes personal suffering or misery to anyone else!

I'm going against the3 grain here...and say I would save my dog-she is now like a child to me{My actual child is now an adult}

hopefully this would be a hypothetical.
I would of course if it was real...try to save them BOTH.

I have gone to the aid of someone on a wrong side of a parapet {This was a teenaged boy} of an infamous bridge, before...so will help wherever possible.
He lived.

I want to add an 'In your opinion ' to so many posts on here that I'd need a good half hour to do it.

I'm a counsellor who also manages other counsellors. I've potentially saved many strangers lives in some way, and we don't know the exact scenario applicable to this question. But not one of those strangers is more precious to me than the closest one to me. And for various very valid reasons, she happens to be a dog.

Oh and I'm also a freak, a psycho, and an absolute nutter.

My pet, because as an owner I have primary responsibility for caring for it and, at the most basic level, ensuring ir does not die avoidably.

No difference to a situation where the choice was between my child and another parent's. I would prioritise my child and hope the parent of the other child was in the midst of also saving their own.

strangers child

Very fond of my pets and feel great responsibility for them, but human life wins every time.

Do you not believe though that as members of society, we also have a general moral responsibility to attempt to save human life where reasonably possible?

I adore my dog he is family but without hesitation I'd save the child.

I'm not who you quoted .

I don't. Humans aren't precious just because they're humans.. we aren't special. Largely we don't do anything good for anyone but ourselves. And our self. Morally we do bad things not just to survive, but because we enjoy it. We're crap. We're without morals and we're hedonists. All while blessed with the intelligence and means to do better. So no. I don't feel a moral responsibility toward my own species any more than I do toward any other.
Many of us are assholes. Sure other animals are too, but we have the cognitive ability to do better, and choose not to.

I wouldn't so much as get my feet wet to save a labradoodle, those things are ridiculous.

Some right nutcases on here. Anyone that would save an animal over a human is not very right in the head. Have you not heard of the sanctity of human life. That's why regimes that kill their citizens are well, not generally good. FFS. This makes me despair. WIth regards to animals - do no harm but sheesh some people need a whack upside the head. You would be totally fine with your neighbour watching your child drown and rescuing their dog. The deranged definitely do walk amongst us.

‘Sanctity of human life’?? Utter and complete tosh!! War, genocide, famine, disease, natural disasters, greed, cruelty, abuse, where exactly is the 'sanctity of human life? Easy to preach, but, given human nature, impossible to practice.

My dog.

Still irrelevant to the question or in anyway a comparable scenario to saving a pet instead. Unless you are trying to say you feel you have a duty to save you dog over a baby and would lift your dog out of a fire and say bye bye baby on the way past.

Anyone who would do that needs to check themselves as it is very very wrong.