To think it's not worth risking your life to save a pet?

[Liketochat1]

A few weeks ago a young rugby star, his father and brother died after his dad jumped in a slurry pit to save the family dog. Earlier this week a mum and her partner died jumping into a river to save their dog. They died and the dog survived. Are pets worth this risk?

Too close to home. My dgm drowned after trying to resuce their pet dog from the canal. My dgf found out when the dog arrived back at their house, wet, and no sign of his wife

Slippers thats terrible.

Slippers

No I wouldn't risk my life for a pet. Its not fair on my children.

Absolutely makes my blood boil when I see it in the news that people have died rescuing pets.poor fucking family left to pick up the pieces.

So sorry, Slippers, what an awful story :(

It never fails to blow my mind how attached people are to their pets, especially in the Western world. I've had plenty of pets before but it would never occur to me to go back into a burning building to rescue them.

I love my dog to distraction, but if it came to it I would kill him with my bare hands to save the life of either of my children.

I find the idea that anyone can love their pet as much as their child offensive on one level, but charmingly naive on another. The closest I have ever come to feeling what it would be like to lose a child (and I admit it is precisely nowhere in the scheme of things and I really hope it doesn't offend, I don't mean it that way) was ds having to go for emergency surgery when he was very young.

I would have done pretty much anything for a guarantee of having him safe and sound back in my arms. Be in the place where the life of your child could be on the line and you will realise no matter how much a place in your heart your pet holds, it is nothing compared to what you feel for your children.

I have no children.

I cannot think of a situation where I would stand by and watch my dog's die. I just can't.

If someone thinks less of me for this then tough. I can't or won't change how I feel about them or what they mean to me.

I have no children either canidie but I know if I did I would put them first no matter how much I love my dog - and i Iove dogs a lot!

Ime, pets will find a range of methods of offing themselves. We've had 6 cats over the years, and only one of them died of old age. The rest died in action, so to speak.

I've lost beloved pets so I do know how that feels, but I can't help thinking that if I'd saved any of our hooligan moggies from drowning, they'd have given me a dirty look then dashed off under the nearest car.

People, on the other hand, generally stick around for the long haul. If you own a pet, they will almost certainly die before you do. It's just how it is. You won't be able to keep them alive forever.

I can't even think about my pets being hurt without getting angry/sad stabbings. Fuck it. Of course I would try.

Animal or human I can't imagine doing nothing if they were in danger. I doubt I would even think.

And I hardly have a bond with them- they're not my pets, they're my mum's. But once you've had a warm snuffly guiny fall asleep on your shoulder and lick all over your chin you can feel attached to them
One guinea pig we had- I'm sure she was human really- intuitive and gorgeous and very jealous (and bit anyone who wasn't me deary me the narcissist).....she would be saved. I wouldn't have thought of doing anything else.

Agree with Op. you can buy dogs, they are bloody well being given away, children and mothers and fathers are a lot harder to come by!

Don't know whether or not it's 'worth it' but I imagine I would at least try to do so. It's instinctive. Something that loves and trusts you is in danger - you just would. Not a question of logic.

What Whois said.

I'd go so far as to say that if you'd risk leaving your children orphaned or your partner widowed to save your dog, you shouldn't be allowed a dog in the first place!

I cannot believe that any parent would say they love their pet the same as their children. It's simply obscene.

Unbelievable.

I agree with Lemarchands. They probably don't feel they are risking their life at the time.

No way Jose.

Yanbu - my children are way more important to be than a pet, however well loved.

More important for the kids to have their mum and dad than to be left without me or dh but with the bonus of the family cat . Some consolation.

Donate to the rnli and they are constantly going out and rescuing dogs purely because owners tend to try and help them and get into trouble themselves.

Pets are not worth the risk, no. But people very often don't act rationally or judge risk properly in these kinds of situations.

I'm afraid that whenever I read one of these stories I immediately look to see if the dog or whatever animal survived anyway, because in quite a number of cases they do. It makes me very .

I doubt that the couple in Wales thought for a minute that they were risking their lives.
They instictively jumped in to rescue a dog they thought was in trouble on a walk they took regularly. I don't think they thought how dangerous the river was, it was freak weather.
My dog is an avid swimmer, and I'd probably in these circumstances have gone in to the loch to rescue him, I'd have done it without thinking.

In the heat of the moment, I don't think that people who go into a swollen river, or whatever, to rescue a dog are actually considering that they may be risking their own life.

But I am always horrified by anyone who says that they love their pets as much as they love their children. Its heartbreaking to hear, and its utterly insulting to bereaved parents. If animals mean so much, why bother having children at all?