If you were alone and you were starving and about to die if you didn't eat, would you eat your "pet"?

Question

This is an ethics Q in philosophy. Can you try and reason out your Answer? I know it's hard for some(& I include myself among the some), but try to state your position clearly.

Please read this again: This is an ETHICS Q in philosophy. Can you try and reason out your Answer? I know it's hard for some(& I include myself among the some), but try to state your position CLEARLY.

Jokes are often a form of gentle denial or a way of avoiding real thought

If you don't have a pet, or you have never had one and have absolutely no idea or experience of what having a pet or companion animal is about , you don't qualify and have no business posting an A to my Q in philosophy. Please show respect and do not post an A, or delete your A if that is the case.

So you know, I have been asking a series of ethical Q's about humans and their foods and I have been using the YA Q&A format to do so.

Those of you ading other people to the Q are addressing a different Q, which is different from the Q I have asked. Many A's are interesting and gut-wrenching and I appreciate those who have answered sincerely and honestly.

Answer 1

If i was starving and there was no alternative food source, there would be no good reason to eat my pet. let me explain. i would probably end up dying anyway because there would still be nothing else to eat. i would have to live for a few more days with remorse and sorrow, knowing that i killed my only companion in a selfish act.

Answer 2

yep. long before I was about to die. I don't have a pet so this is easy to answer!!! ;) it all comes down to survival instincts. When it gets to that extreme of a situation, ethics are out the window..

1) I have had several pets and know the bond that's created between friends, so I am quite qualified to answer this Q.
2) This is not a question of ethics. This is not a question of philosophy. This is not even a question, really. The way you have asked the question, there is only one answer: YES!
EVERYONE would eat their pet if they were to the point of starving to death. Some may cry after doing so, but will do it nonetheless. The survival instinct will override everything else when called for. I cannot be any more clear than that.

Answer 3

Your teacher must be a fan of Harlen Ellison, the science fiction writer who wrote about this same set of circumstances thirty years ago in a short novel called 'A Boy And His Dog.'

The only difference was the main character had to chose between eating his dog or his girlfriend to survive. Want to guess which one got eaten?

(My friend, I've been reading through these answers and many seem to be crapola because, when starving to death, the human instinct to survive far outweighs loyalty to an animal. Look at past examples from human nature, like with the Donner Party, where humans actually ate their own people (the sicker or older ones) to survive over starvation. I'm willing to bet virtually everyone here who says 'no' would eat a pet if it truly meant survival. Those that claim they wouldn't most likely aren't being honest with you or with themselves.

Those that answered 'no' because they were probably going to die anyway may not be taking in the full circumstances. If you eat something, or someone, you normally wouldn't just to survive it means you are probably isolated, stranded somewhere and someone is searching for you, trying to rescue you. If this is the case then you are buying time, buying life itself, while waiting to be rescued. History bares this out because it has happened many times over.)

>>>

To answer this question honestly myself I would, in a heartbeat, eat an animal, house pet or otherwise, to survive. However, I doubt seriously if I would consider eating another human. The reasons are simple enough to me: I value no animal, no pet, no matter how precious or loving, above human life.

Answer 4

well i should get ready for the thumbs down...
yes i would. First off if i am starving so are they. I would rather kill it and eat it then let it suffer from hunger. I know this isn't a popular answer but I believe a human life is more valuable then a pets life. There should be no question of either him or me. There have been many instances on the news of older people dying and their pets eating them because they were starving. If i were to die first I'm sure that the pet would eat me and not think twice about it. Yes i would feel bad that i had to do that...but I would want to live on to see my children again...on a lighter note I hope i have a pet horse or a really large dog if that happened.

Edit: yes i have had pets i currently donot have one. I recently had to put my dog down due to cancer. I loved that dog more then anything. And sometimes at night i still cry over him. I understand the deep feelings someone has towards their pet....but if it came down to my survival yes i would have eaten richard....Dr. Watson i think gave the best answer in his edit

Answer 5

I could not eat my pet, no matter how hungry I was. I know I'm saying this while I'm well-fed and comfortable, but I am 100% positive that this answer won't change. I have a long-standing attachment to my cat. I could never kill her and clean her and fillet her and call her dinner. I would feel sick doing it. But if I were on, say, an island where I found some pigs or chickens or something, I could eat them because there's no connection. Mind you, I would still feel terrible about ending their lives (and I'm not a vegetarian or anything) but it would definitely happen.

Answer 6

I'm assuming that this is a cold place in the mountains and no one has found me yet. i would wrap my pet up in a warm blanket,which was my coat, and give him any bit of food i have left. I would lean my back against the wall and smile at death as it rushes to meet me. The reason for this is because I couldn't imagine hurting something i loved. No matter what kind of species it was. I would rather sacrifice myself and die with a lil bit of dignity. Anyways if I'm up there freezing and starving to death i think that my death is meant to happen. So i would accept it as my Inevitable end and pray someone finds my pet.

Answer 7

If my pet were a socially accepted house pet, such as a dog or cat. The answer is "No" because we become attached to them and in a sense we "love them." If my "pet" were a chicken or a cow, then "Yes" I could eat them under those circumstances. We accept the devouring of cows and chickens, whereas our society does not for dogs and cats.

Answer 8

I have dogs and they are great hunting companions. If I had the means to hunt, then I would not eat the pets.

If however, the hunting went dry or there was no means to be able to hunt...the dogs are the meat in my steak and eggs in the morning.

Answer 9

That would be like eating my daughter.
the only way I would even consider it is if maybe and that is a big MAYBE! my 11 year old granddaughter was starving.
My pet has had cancer with tumor removed chemo-therapy and has chronic bronchial asthma.
Come to think of it, it might not be safe to eat her.
P.S. I ate BBQ Beaver once does that count?

Answer 10

I would never eat my pets. My kitties are my best friends! I could no more eat one of them than eat one of my grandkids. I'd eat bugs or grass or something like that. I hear ants taste like pickles.