Re: PETA documentary last night
 

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A) I save my dog over a stranger. I believe. My point was that I can't know for sure. But I do care more about my dog than a human I don't know. And my cats too.


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I think this is a given in daily life. I was thinking a few days ago about what will make me more sad, when one of my dogs dies or a relative I see once a year.

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Over the last month, I've lost a dog, and a seldom seen great aunt. The dog was heart-breaking, the aunt, not so much.

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okay, THIS I can relate to. I'd be heart-broken to lose my dog, but there are defintely relatives who I wouldn't be all that broken up over losing.

But I still save the unknown person from drowning before my dog. I just can't imagine having it in my powr to save a human life and not doing it.

Re: PETA documentary last night
 

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It is silly to pose the question where the choice involves a random human and your own pet. Every day, almost every pet owner, basically makes that choice-in favor of the pet, since he knows he could sell it to a laboratory and use the money to save a third world country starving child.

Of course if the scenario was such that he had to look the human in the eye, many pet owners might reluctantly save that human. But it wouldn't be because they thought it was the moral choice. It would be simply out of selfishness. They would be afraid that choosing the animal might haunt them down the road.

Here is a better question. If you could save either Koko or an elderly, moderately retarded, institutionalized individual, who would you choose?

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Wow. I choose Koko for two reasons:

That animal is incredibly unique and valuable to human knowledge

and

The other person is elderly and has already livd life. If you had said child,I'd be more inclined to choose the child.

Re: PETA documentary last night
 

and i just had to say to Matt: I've done the same thing - rescuing my dog at great risk to myself. And I didn't even think about it, either.

About twenty years ago my dog and I were walking along a marsh lake in Florida - he saw a gator swimming along about ten yards away and he JUMPED in after the gator!

I jumped in after him and punched the very curious gator on the snout, pulling my dog back to shore. It all happened in a few seconds.

I figured the only reason wasn't gator bait was that we startled the guy so much he just swam away.

I'd do pretty much anything for my dogs...except sacrifice a human life for them (Except my own apparantly!)

Re: PETA documentary last night
 

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and i just had to say to Matt: I've done the same thing - rescuing my dog at great risk to myself. And I didn't even think about it, either.

About twenty years ago my dog and I were walking along a marsh lake in Florida - he saw a gator swimming along about ten yards away and he JUMPED in after the gator!

I jumped in after him and punched the very curious gator on the snout, pulling my dog back to shore. It all happened in a few seconds.

I figured the only reason wasn't gator bait was that we startled the guy so much he just swam away.

I'd do pretty much anything for my dogs...except sacrifice a human life for them (Except my own apparantly!)

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Dom, You are a hero!
Too bad it wasn't a Tuna in the pond. It would have been lunch time! [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Seriously though, I am glad I have never had to do something like this. Closest I have ever come was trying to get my dogs away from a skunk. I wasn't going to charge the skunk but I was sure trying to figure out a way to shoot it without hitting one of the dogs, or the house.

I suppose PETA would be unhappy that I shoot skunks too. I don't care. I'm killing every one of them I can!

Re: PETA documentary last night
 

PETA= People Eating Tasty Animals amirite?

Re: PETA documentary last night
 

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It is silly to pose the question where the choice involves a random human and your own pet. Every day, almost every pet owner, basically makes that choice-in favor of the pet, since he knows he could sell it to a laboratory and use the money to save a third world country starving child.

Of course if the scenario was such that he had to look the human in the eye, many pet owners might reluctantly save that human. But it wouldn't be because they thought it was the moral choice. It would be simply out of selfishness. They would be afraid that choosing the animal might haunt them down the road.

Here is a better question. If you could save either Koko or an elderly, moderately retarded, institutionalized individual, who would you choose?

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Wow. I choose Koko for two reasons:

That animal is incredibly unique and valuable to human knowledge

and

The other person is elderly and has already livd life. If you had said child,I'd be more inclined to choose the child.

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You and I are very close on this series Dom. But I'm sure if you polled 100 Catholic Bishops (regarding Koko v the elderly human) they would all say save the human, but I bet some would have secret misgivings. It is likely that none would have misgivings about my (really Prager's) original question.

At the same time I wonder what popular authors such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins would say about either question. My guess is at least Hitchens and Harris would line up with you on Koko v elderly human and agree with Prager on beloved pet v unknown human. Not sure about Dawkins; I only got through half his book "God Delusion" but hope to finish it at some point.

Too bad we can't ask Thomas Paine.

~ Rick

Re: PETA documentary last night
 

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At the same time I wonder what popular authors such as Christopher Hitchens, Sam Harris, and Richard Dawkins would say about either question. My guess is at least Hitchens and Harris would line up with you on Koko v elderly human and agree with Prager on beloved pet v unknown human.
~ Rick

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Near the end of this transcript of a 2004 Dennis Prager radio interview of Sam Harris Harris would save the human in the case of beloved pet versus unknown human.