[Blarg]

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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.


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Although it's fun and interesting to speculate on these things, you haven't the slightest ground to say what anyone's motivations would be when choosing to save the human. To say the least, your own interpretation is a highly flavored one.

Further, it strikes me as unlikely. YMMV. In a situation in which one is thrust so shockingly into a full grasp of the present as when a human life is on the line, I think one of the last things to come up might be whether one will be haunted by anything in the future, and I'd guess it would be among the least determinative. It would be very hard for that thought to gain position over the immediate impact of someone possibly losing their life right NOW.

Actually I think even among the admittedly selfish or indifferent among us, it would be pretty hard to overcome natural human empathy -- and it would come to you hard and in a flash even if you hadn't felt that way for years. Many people who have rescued others on the spur of the moment have said they really didn't think about it or that they just did what anyone would do. I'd be surprised if that was very far-fetched.

Either way, I don't think anyone knows what they would do in such situations until they happen. But I think your speculation here isn't particularly good and shouldn't be passed off as certainty.