Your Dog and a Stranger Are Drowning-Which Do You Save?

[rhinefire]

Your life long companion dog and a stranger are drowning and you can only save one.....chose.

 

[lizzie]

Probably my dog, because I love my dog, and I have no emotional connection to the stranger.

 

[Gardener]

Your life long companion dog and a stranger are drowning and you can only save one.....chose.

I would not KNOW I could save only one in such a situation, so how could I say?

My first reaction would probably be to grab my dog, who I know to be a person of high character, extreme loyalty, and of remarkable ease on the eyes. Upon thinking a bit more, however, I might go for the human, assuming that a golden retriever would have sufficient swimming skills.

Considering my own particular swimming ability, however, asking me to save anybody drowning is like asking Helen Keller to help read the fine print on a legal contract. There may be better swimming heroes out there.

 

[RabidAlpaca]

Man... That is a HARD question. I think the only way I could answer it is by being in the situation. On one hand my dog is like my child and I love him more than anything. On the other hand we're talking about a human being that is a father, son, brother, and friend.

Logically you'd want to pick the human, because at best the dog has another 5-10 years, while the human could have 40-50 years.

Sadly this is a somewhat relevant question for me because my dog can't swim, he panics when he gets in the water.

 

[lizzie]

Man... That is a HARD question. I think the only way I could answer it is by being in the situation. On one hand my dog is like my child and I love him more than anything. On the other hand we're talking about a human being that is a father, son, brother, and friend.

Logically you'd want to pick the human, because at best the dog has another 5-10 years, while the human could have 40-50 years.
Sadly this is a somewhat relevant question for me because my dog can't swim, he panics when he gets in the water.

We don't know that the human has another 40-50 years. You may save him today, and then he gets killed in a car accident tomorrow. Really, it is an impossible question to answer, because so many factors come into play in a real-life situation. Suppose the stranger is an annoying asshole, who just 30 minutes prior, was cussing you. THen suppose the stranger was a little frail-looking old lady. My choices would be clouded by my perceptions, and my impulse to save the little old lady would be much stronger than that of trying to save the asshole. Given the op question, without any qualifiers, I would most likely save my dog first, because my dog means something to me personally.

 

[Serenity]

I love our two dogs so much and i'd hate to ever be in that situation where i'm forced to choose but i'm a paramedic and i'm trained to save lives. It's not something that you can just switch on or off when it suits.

 

[gunner]

Your life long companion dog and a stranger are drowning and you can only save one.....chose.

From a objective 'Moral' position, is has to be the human. I hold the homo sapien in higher regard. From an innate emotional perspective, my dog.

Edited to add, this may effect the decisions of some: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeremy_Bentham#Animal_rights

Paul

 

[TiredOfLife]

Your life long companion dog and a stranger are drowning and you can only save one.....chose.

The answer actually depends a lot on the human involved. A child, teenager, or young woman with children around, I save the human. All others I would hope I would save the dog but it goes against our nature to do so.

 

[Ben K.]

I would be pretty pissed if someone chose their dog over me so I choose the human.

 

[Fisher]

My dog. Wouldn't think twice about it.

 

[JayDubya]

My dog's a strong swimmer, thankfully, so I need not lose him to such a scenario were it to present itself.

To analyze your dilemma on its own merits, however:

It is not morally obligatory to save anyone and risk drowning yourself.
It is morally permissible to save either.


All other things being equal, I know it's the right thing to do to save the human I don't know. But I'd be highly tempted in the moment to save my dog.



* * *

Oh wait, I forgot, I have two dogs. The newer one of them has pooped on my floor enough that the flood can take him.

 

[TiredOfLife]

I'd like to know a more straightforward choice, a teenage girl or an elderly man, choose one and explain why?

 

[lizzie]

I'd like to know a more straightforward choice, a teenage girl or an elderly man, choose one and explain why?

It would entirely depend on one thing: which one of the two stirred my empathy more effectively.

 

[Un biased]

The stranger dogs are better swimmers than humans

 

[Serenity]

I'd like to know a more straightforward choice, a teenage girl or an elderly man, choose one and explain why?

Whoever appears to be in more difficulty.

 

[americanwoman]

I'd like to know a more straightforward choice, a teenage girl or an elderly man, choose one and explain why?

Yes, being a small woman myself it makes a huge difference to me if the stranger is a grown man or a small child. Or if it was my boxer or the cocker spaniel I use to have. A small lake vs a boat crashing miles from shore in the ocean. So many variety of factors it's hard to say unless you are in the situation.

 

[americanwoman]

The stranger dogs are better swimmers than humans

Yes all dogs I've known or owned have all been naturally good swimmers. Not saying all dogs are, but all the ones I've come across have been.

 

[Truckstop]

I would probably give my life to save one of my dogs. That said, it is crazy anyone would chose the animal over the human. I can't even imagine seeing the children or parents of the person you let drowned and looking them in the eye, takes a special kinda narcissist to make that decision ok in your mind. Does seem about right for the culture we are becoming thought.

 

[TiredOfLife]

Whoever appears to be in more difficulty.

Whichever you don't pick will drown. Now which one do you save?

 

[Gaius46]

Yes all dogs I've known or owned have all been naturally good swimmers. Not saying all dogs are, but all the ones I've come across have been.

My dog accidentally fell in the pool one day. He simply froze and sank to the bottom so he's not a particularly good swimmer.

People have emotional attachments to their animals - I know I have to mine. They are members of the family. It would be hard possibly to the point of being impossible to choose the human, even through that's the moral choice.

As to the teen/elderly choice - all other things being equal I save the teen. She hasn't lived her life yet, the elderly person has.

 

[Serenity]

Whichever you don't pick will drown. Now which one do you save?

Whoever i can get to first.

 

[Helix]

Your life long companion dog and a stranger are drowning and you can only save one.....chose.

i don't let my dog swim, so i guess the person would be the only one left to save.

an ounce of prevention, and all.

 

[TiredOfLife]

Whoever i can get to first.

Interesting.

 

[Serenity]

Interesting.

How so?

 

[TiredOfLife]

As to the teen/elderly choice - all other things being equal I save the teen. She hasn't lived her life yet, the elderly person has.

A good answer, and it's also correct.