This is a serious question. I want to know whether you would rather save the life of your pet animal or me in an emergency.
I am a complete stranger and you know nothing about me, therefore I could be a disliked loner or beloved by family or friends, a dumbass or a prodigy, a criminal or a volunteer with children and the elderly. You can't know.
EDIT:
These poll results are hardly surprising; a similar question was posed by another user on a forum I frequent and most people were more than happy to let that OP die, even kill and torture him, over their dog or cat. There is a serious lack of empathy in the modern world.
Even as a pet owner myself (I have a cat), I feel that people who put the lives of animals they own over other human beings are SELFISH. Selfish because their pets love them unconditionally and provide companionship, and they don't want to give this source of happiness up, while many people don't get along well with other humans. However, I personally could never live with the guilt knowing that I let another human being with family, friends, a significant other, a job where they provide value to others, hopes, and dreams die for an animal that is barely self-aware and mainly exists to make me happy and entertain me.
It would pain me to do so, but I would kill my cat myself so that any one of you may live.
EDIT 2:
Yes, the poll question was poorly worded when compared to the content of the OP, sorry.
I am a complete stranger and you know nothing about me, therefore I could be a disliked loner or beloved by family or friends, a dumbass or a prodigy, a criminal or a volunteer with children and the elderly. You can't know.
EDIT:
These poll results are hardly surprising; a similar question was posed by another user on a forum I frequent and most people were more than happy to let that OP die, even kill and torture him, over their dog or cat. There is a serious lack of empathy in the modern world.
Even as a pet owner myself (I have a cat), I feel that people who put the lives of animals they own over other human beings are SELFISH. Selfish because their pets love them unconditionally and provide companionship, and they don't want to give this source of happiness up, while many people don't get along well with other humans. However, I personally could never live with the guilt knowing that I let another human being with family, friends, a significant other, a job where they provide value to others, hopes, and dreams die for an animal that is barely self-aware and mainly exists to make me happy and entertain me.
It would pain me to do so, but I would kill my cat myself so that any one of you may live.
EDIT 2:
Yes, the poll question was poorly worded when compared to the content of the OP, sorry.