Theoretical moral quandary in time of evacuation

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

Suppose you were evacuating in the face of a hurricane. You have your family, some very basic emergency supplies and the family pet who will just about make it crammed into your Toyota Corolla or comparable vehicle. You are stuffed to the gills and are about to pull out of the driveway when an elderly neighbor you do not know well appears in your driveway distraught and asking for a ride out. It becomes clear it comes down to a choice of the neighbor or the family pet. Both will absolutely not fit.

Which would you take with you?

[Arctic Dave]

1. We once fit eleven people into a VW Rabbit.

Make them fit. It will not be comfortable but too bad.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

3. I can't even imagine that. nt

[Mojorabbit]

6. OMG

We did the same thing in the early seventies while skipping school. It was a tight fit..more like a game of twister.

[lligrd]

2. Why Couldn't Someone Hold The Family Pet? nt

[elocs]

7. Because the point is to force you to make a moral choice.

It's a game I will not play.

[Tallison]

12. Yes, one wherein creative problem solving is NOT ALLOWED

which renders the 'quandry' theoretically useless. Why doesn't the OP ask what's really on his or her mind? :shrug:

[elocs]

15. No, it's either, or. n/t

[BlooInBloo]

4. That's approximately as far from a moral quandary as is possible.

[Tallison]

11. dupe n/t

[Parker CA]

5. Pile in, open the trunk and put someone in there with it open, don't leave anyone behind.

[doublethink]

8. I'd tie myself to the back trunk somehow ... depends on the vehicle .....

we'd all get out. :)

[JerseygirlCT]

9. Easy for me to answer

not being a pet person at all. But to me, human life always comes first.

But before that, I'd look at unloading some of the baggage. Stuff is just stuff.

[blonndee]

10. I would stay with the pet and allow the rest of the family and the neighbor to go on.

[ComplimentarySwine]

14. Why not go with the family and abandon the pet?

What good is it if you and your pet die together?

[blonndee]

16. Because I chose to take that pet into my care.

So I owe it to him to do my best to save him. With me, he has a chance at least.

[lligrd]

22. Then You Might As Well Let The Pet Go With The Family

No use both of you suffering. Besides, wouldn't you have a better chance without the pet to worry about.

[blonndee]

23. That's actually a better idea!

Makes more sense.

[lligrd]

25. Think That Would Be My Choice As Well

Seeing as how we aren't allowed to come up with any creative solutions. I wonder if we just have to lay down and die now or are allowed to think up a way to save ourselves. lol

[blonndee]

26. Hee!

Thank god it's "theoretical," eh? :)

[ComplimentarySwine]

13. So you want to know whether to leave an animal to die, or a person?

If, for some reason, I had to make that choice, I don't see how I could possibly save an animal over a human being given the circumstances that you described.

Now, if the person was an axe murderer, and the dog somehow was the only living being on earth who held the key to curing AIDS, then, the decision might be different.

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

17. What made me ask this question?

What really made me think of it was the picture and threads about "animals left behind to die" and how many people thought how their owners must be the absolute scum of the earth. I saw the picture of the 2 dogs and I thought, "but what if their owner's choice was the 2 dogs or 3 neighbors or 4 nieces" and they were forced into a decision no one would ever want to make.

I'm just saying we never know the dynamics behind every decision made. I bet there were a number of people who left their pets behind with lots of food and water with the hope, belief and prayer that all would end well or better than expected and that they would be re-united in the near future. I have to say that I think it is wrong to confine an animal in a situation like this, since they would have the instinct to go to higher ground on their own.

[Bluebear]

19. Personally I don't need to know the "dynamic" why they left their dogs to drown

I think your scenario about the 2 dogs versus the 4 nieces are good "Sophie's Choice" cinema, but I bet that didn't happen once.

[rug]

18. Depends which smells worse.

[SoCalDem]

20. We got 7 people ON a Triumph convertible..until

a cop saw us and made all but 2 of us get off :rofl:

like this...only it was blue

?...

[wickerwoman]

21. Depending on how much time was left,

I would either 1.) call the evacuation assistance hotline to send a bus to pick up my neighbor

2.) pile everyone in and drive the short distance to the evacuation staging area

3.) stay behind while my family drove the neighbor to the evacuation staging area and then came back for me

In a pinch, I would throw away some of my "emergency supplies" (honestly, how many damn supplies do I have that myself, two cats and an elderly neighbor can't fit in a Toyota Corolla?) to make more space.

Regardless, it is morally indefensible to leave two dogs locked up in a yard in a house that's below sea level in front of predicted 20 foot storm surges. Out of all the possible choices that owner had, that was absolutely the worst one. Who cares if he was escorting out an entire bus full of handicapped children? He could have put the dogs in the attic or let them free so they could find higher grounds. The third dog, a chihuahua, certainly drowned needlessly because of this callous asshole who left his pitbull out to deter looters with no thought for the animal's safety.

[tannybogus]

24. At that point, I would pull a Mittens and

tie something or somebody to the top of the car.