Imagine this. You arrive to your apartment (in a building with at least one other apartment) and there is a fire. You know that you only have time to enter one apartment and get out. You can go to the other apartment and save your neighbor. You do not know your neighbor very well, but you are on friendly terms with him/her. On the other hand, you know that your beloved cat or dog is in your apartment waiting to be saved.
As you consider this, do not pick apart all of the details and ask how do you know.... Just assume that both your neighbor and your pet are alive, both need to be saved, and only one can be saved.

Which do you pick?

I would probably save my cat.

Yikes.

Save your neighbor, then force them back in to save your dog.

I'd save my neighbor.

Well if they are your neighbor would'nt you be able to go grab your pet,and then on the way out,bang or bust open their door,and yell FIRE!!?
[Edited 10/6/08 13:18pm]

EmeraldSkies said:

I like your way of thinking. Now way I am letting my pussy burn.

EmeraldSkies said:

Presuming both the animal and the neighbour are conscious and mobile, the animal might have a harder time escaping than the person.

That said, I think I'd only go out of my way to rescue my hypothetical cat or dog. I know it's horrible, but if it was a rodent or a bird or something like that and I only had time to rescue one, I'd be going for the neighbour.

meow85 said:

hey~! birds are just as deserving of rescue as any other animal

XxAxX said:

I know!

Maybe I could open up his cage by the window and hope he flies out.

i'd go in for my cats. sorry, but they're part of the family, and in my opinion a trapped cat is a lot more helpless and in need of assistance in such a situation than a trapped person.

I remember when I was a very little boy, our house caught on fire.
I'll never forget the look on my father's face as he gathered me up
in his arms and raced through the burning building out to the pavement.
I stood there shivering in my pajamas and watched the whole world go up in flames.

And when it was all over I said to myself, "Is that all there is to a fire"

HamsterHuey said:

Nothing is worse than a flaming pussy!

Neighbor.

I think for the most part peoples' lives are more important than animals' lives.

The Cats Definitely!

Anxiety said:

I don't have a pet anymore, but I would have saved my dog as he was part of my family. But I would have saved my neighbour and not my birds or turtles.

humans first, I would be devastated to lose my poor Moppy, but I know I would be crippingly wracked with guilts if I didn't save Marion next door especially now she has 2 new grandbabies, and her kids lost their father not that long ago.

save my neighbor and then go back for my pet

superspaceboy said:

I thought you were going to ask do I save my stuff -- like computer, photos -- or my neighbors. I would have chosen my stuff.

But if the choice is between pet and neighbor, I'd chose the human being.

there are some animal hating mfs on this site. remind me never to come on here looking for a pet sitter next time i'm out of town.

Anxiety said:

humans are animals too ya know

ZombieKitten said:

i wouldn't want some of these folks looking after the humans in my house, either!

Provided my upstairs neighbor makes it out (as he's one of my best frends) I don't think it would even occur to me to think about anyone till I knew my kitty was safe.

i'd save both

momentofbliss said:

I would NEED to save both.

My kitty, Thomasina. It took me 5 years to get over the death of my last cat.