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

OP I wish you’d enabled voting.

to those who would save their pet, in the case where someone else made the choice to save their pet, letting your child perish, would you feel consoled that was the right decision for them?

I suppose since my choice would be for my pet, I'd understand where they were coming from.

I have to say I think you sound quite a strange person. Firstly asking a very very odd question, secondly stating your extreme views on it and thirdly stating all rational people should donate £1 to malaria charities all because they didn’t answer your question in the way you hoped.

I do hope your the volunteer of an animal shelter and don’t eat any animal products???

@NeatReader I would die for my child's well being

where on earth do you draw the line?! Will you start bumping off kids that are unkind to them in school? Getting their inconsiderate teacher fired?

it all sounds a bit dramatic and im
not buying that people would “never know”
a a you go through life.

some of the extreme reactions on this thread are very weird indeed

I'll admit to it.

I'd save my dogs. They're part of my family. I love them almost as much as I love my children.

If it came to my cats, I'd save the strangers child.

I have explained the unique situation and why my child has been through enough and I wouldn't inflict the trauma of losing the emotional support animal that was provided to them during the sickness and death of their twin sibling. I'm not really choosing the pet, I'm choosing my child. The judgement of anyone wouldn't affect me because I know the additional trauma I am saving my child. My child is my first responsibility.

I'm assuming the decision is passive rather than requiring action. I would never bump anyone off.

Yes, I'm sorry someone would lose their child. No-one should have to go through that. However, life can be shit and random and life saw fit to inflict that on me and mine. So now, my first priority is saving my child from life dishing out more shit.

Oh dear. I hope if you have any friends ( dubious ) that you warn then that if the were visiting and you could save their chlld or your pet you would choose your pet . No question. Maybe pop a note on your door . Just to be clear, I know you don;t have children. I really hope you don't babysit . Or look after nephews or nieces! Yeeek! Something you should definitely not do ever!!!!!!!

The brief answer is no, I don't think such a general responsibility exists. If you rule out micro-organisms, human beings are the species that do the majority of the killing of other human .

If the choice was simply saving a stranger or letting them die, I would feel a personal responsibility to save them but not at the expense of myself or those under my care.

I am not saying it would. However I am also not saying that any one scenario is 'the' scenario. You didn't read it wrong-neither did I. Both of us interpreted it in our own way as a product of our own thinking.

It could be a random child gets the wrong house and wanders into yours where you're sitting watching TV, your dogs upstairs, said child goes to use the loo and the house catches fire at that very moment.

Or you're out walking your dog and a torrential downpour occurs, the river floods instantly and your dog falls in, you struggle to pull your dog out and as you're doing so you notice a child struggling the same, nearby.

It could be that Paul Kagame rings me randomly having decided he hates my dog and wants her to die, and says 'I have an orphan here and I am going to kill him unless you kill your dog right now'.

It could be the scenario I said, I am deeply religious and a 'calling' of some sort happens.

We haven't been given a scenario so we have to 'make them up'.

A friend's child isn't a stranger's child.

Fair dos. Let’s hope any scenario is one none of us find ourselves in 🙏

@margymary the question was specifically about a strangers child, not one you know.

Quite. The point is it is not a question that is easy to answer because we haven't been equipped with that necessary information. A lot of people have made up the scenario that makes the most sense to them, and gone with their answer involving that.

Yes, I would understand their love for their pet over a strangers child and that they probably made a split decision as to who to grab first.

Of course, this thread can never be representative. I appreciate I can always be wrong but by my own reckoning this thread will mostly attract those who are outraged at the question-"Of COURSE I'd save a child! How can ANYONE even consider any different?!" Without considering any different perspective and how the situation may not be what their brain has come up with so they post the same and then go back to their typing up of a report, their favourite TV programme, helping their child with something or the washing up.

Anyone who thinks 'yeh I don't value a random unknown kid over my beloved fluffmeister' is likely to not post as they can't be bothered with the bun fight or just prefer to post on threads that actually fit within their current life.

And a lot of people from both perspectives don't like this type of thread or its question.

Sanctity of ALL life. Humans aren’t worth more than animal life.

This comment doesn’t make any sense. I’d be devastated they chose their pet, but seeing as I’d choose my pet I’d be a hypocrite if I was outraged at their decision.

@apunnetofgrapes

Agreed.

However, I've never met an animal I didn't like but I've met lots of people that I don't!

@ManilowBarry exactly! It’s also such a superior way of thinking to say human > animal. My life isn’t worth more just because I was born the ‘elite’ species. Sometimes I hate this planet lol!

I wouldn't really care tbh. It's like asking if you'd be angry all your life with a drunk driver. You can be angry. Is that going to make your life better? It's done.

Also, this is contrarian but I think it's an interesting academic point: to those calling the pet-savers psychopaths...what do you think of the oft-trotted out "well, cruelty to animals is the first sign of a psychopath"

It's never so clear-cut in these hypotheticals.

Again, quite. Imagine how often that can be trotted out, all depending on our own individual viewpoints;

'Anyone who'd choose an animal over a human is a PSYCHOPATH!'
'Anyone who eats meat/works in a slaughterhouse is a PSYCHOPATH!'
'Anyone who works for the government is a PSYCHOPATH!'
'Anyone who works in defense law is a PSYCHOPATH'
'Anyone who is a parking attendant is a PSYCHOPATH'

If you were driving and there was a child in front of your car and a fox in front of your car and you have to swerve so you don't hit one of them...what would you do? Swerve so you hit the fox instead of the child or swerve so you hit the child instead of the fox?

@Comedycook - but that's a flawed question. The fox isn't a pet, and what about contributory negligence/liability. WHY is the kid in the road? Where's the adult? The fox is in the road because it doesn't have an adult/parent who knows about the green cross code

I don’t know about foxes, but I’m pretty sure some people on here would hit the child rather than a dog.

Doesn't relate to this scenario as a PP said. That isn't my pet fox. (I think I'd probably just slam on, to be honest).