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

@Comedycook

My point is that those who proclaim they love their pets in the same way others love their children are wrong. They do not. They may love their pet but it is nothing like how a person loves their child. When the inevitable happens and their pet dies, their owners life won't actually be eternally destroyed by that death.

My Nanna had a child who died. Her life wasn't eternally destroyed. That's a huge blanket assumption to be making.

She suffered badly because of it and of course her life was different. She battled depression most of her life but she also went on to have a successful career working with children and maintained a great marriage, travelled the world and experienced loads. A child dying doesn't necessarily mean you are destroyed.

I can't imaging the pain of it happening, but equally I'm not able to tell anyone how they should feel

Sorry I think you misunderstood my post. When I said my life would be destroyed I wasn't implying I wouldn't survive such a loss. Nor was I suggesting how others should grieve. If someone has lost a child, it's not up to me to judge how they cope. My judgement is on those who suggest the loss of a pet is similar. I do not believe it can be.

Have you had pets yourself? Genuinely not being sarky, I just don’t think you understand the utter grief when a pet dies.
I had to have time off doing my A-levels when my 13 year old dog died, my grandad died not long after and I was honestly more heartbroken over my dog 😬

I can only speak for myself, not everyone else, but losing a pet is now in some ways worse. When I lost my child I was in shock and went through robotically. Now when I lose a pet, it's a million times harder than it would have been if I hadn't lost a child. I've sniffled putting pets to sleep when they got old and sick in the past. I've had to put a cat to sleep since losing a child and had to leave the room because it was triggering everything and I was starting to have a panic attack. I really let my cat down but the PTSD is real. The long term effects are less, but the loss is just as bad in the immediate time. My child trumps one of my pets every time of course, if I had to choose.

Yes I've had pets die. It's sad. I cried. I still sometimes think of them. It's absolutely nothing like losing actual family members though.

See if you feel the same in the first pet loss you experience following the loss of a child (which is something I hope you never actually experience).

I know one person who admits they were more upset about the death of their cat than their sibling.

I'm not going to comment on your situation or judge you. It sounds rather a lot more complicated than what I was talking about to be honest... wishing you well x

It's not that complicated. Some people experience pet loss more intensely than others.

The argument here is not the relative importance of human v animal but the very personal relationship one has with the 'thing' that is in danger.
Brains work very differently in times of emergency and instinct will just kick in. So, despite whatever 'moral' belief we have in terms of those 'things' relative importance in society, if you are chemically bonded with one of them it's probably going to be the one you instinctively save. Your brain does all the work for you without your higher cortex having a second to engage.

Well, you know what they say about making assumptions 🙄

Really...I didn't even get a week off school when my mother died.

For some people that would be helpful as they find the distraction of keeping busy good for them. Others would prefer quiet space. If you did need more time, I'm sorry you didn't get it.

I still stand by that mine is the majority view

Really.. I suppose you’re made of stronger stuff than me 👍🏻

The argument here is not the relative importance of human v animal but the very personal relationship one has with the 'thing' that is in danger.

Yes, exactly.

Most people will instinctively save the thing they care about and have a personal connection to. I suspect most people here would save their own parent over a random child even though the child has more years ahead of them, for example.

I think the fact a school child was allowed a week off for the death of a pet and one wasn't allowed that for the death of a parent speaks absolute volumes about UK society

@Comedycook even though people who have actually lost children are disagreeing with you?

Do you not think that's quite offensive and arrogant?

So what if it is though?

We’re perfectly free to have to hold minority opinions. If someone doesn’t like it, or indeed if the majority don’t like it? Oh well.

I've already said that is clearly a more complex situation than I can comment on.

Or the people around you had more sympathy for you because the UK has this weird obsession with pets

Different schools might have different policies. Also comes down to the parents. I told my children's schools how long they would be off. I didn't ask.

Possibly, but it can also say something of your caregivers to send a child into school immediately after losing their parent 🤷🏼‍♀️
It also wasn’t a week I stayed off, it was the Thursday and Friday.

And yet here you are, commenting and claiming that you’re right 🤷‍♀️

I'm saying that vast majority of people think losing a child is worse than losing a pet.