I've been discussing with my sister (a big fan of her cats) about what lives we would save in an emergency. I think a human live is worth more than an animal's no question asked but she thinks otherwhise. So to end this discussion I'm writing here.
- Who would you save between your cat and your worst enemy?
- What if it was between your cat and a stranger?
- Why?
I would save my cat every time. I don't value human life above her life. She's been there for me for the past 15 years and helped me through the darkest times.
ShowYeah, my kitties got me through the pan. I lived alone and wasn’t in a relationship and had no car at the time. The isolation was extreme.
- Cat
- Cat
- Cat
EDIT: If you need a serious #3 answer, one aspect is that my cat is dependent on me. That's the relationship I accepted when I chose to take care of a domestic animal. My enemies, or strangers, are not my dependents. They are not vulnerable in that sense.
Gonna change your question to "dog", as that's what I have
- I would choose basically any other life over my worst enemy's. In a choice between them and no one, I'd save no one. I feel you don't understand how emnity works.
- Better question, dog,
- because he's a member of my family that I'm responsible for. As annoying as his theivery is and as bad as his farts are, he's my friend. Would you choose a stranger over one of your friends?
In a choice between "saving them" and "saving no one but also losing a leg" I'd be hard pressed to make a choice!
My favorite thing about this post is that question 2 is asked based on the assumption that you've answered question 1 correctly by picking "cat".
There's about 8 billion Humans, and about half of them suck more than any friendly domestic animal. The worst? I'd create an emergency.
- Cat
- Stranger
- I would not piss on my worst enemy if they where on fire. Stranger well , human Vs animal life.
I would save my cat over pretty much anyone because taking him in meant being there for him and protecting him. I would move mountains for that guy
could have been between the cat and myself. The cat still gets preference.
I have a dog, so I'll apply that.
- Dog.
- Dog.
- In scenario 1, I not only have a good reason to save my dog, but also let my worst enemy die. In scenario 2 it's more complicated, but my dog trusts me, and the stranger has no such expectations (I hope). Lastly, for both cases, there's no way to regret death. They won't be able to care. Humans can also much better understand the current situation than a dog/cat.
You seem to quite fundamentally, or perhaps simply maliciously, misunderstand your sister? Or maybe I misunderstand you?
- My cat
- The stranger? Maybe
- Because I know how worthless a human being my "worst enemy" is and I could justify the loss of a great many good things if they were removed from existence. If the only "loss" of removing my worst enemy is getting to keep my cat, then obviously, I'll do his family a service and take this monkey's paw.