Have a look at the charts below. They are the result of a study about how Americans feel towards their companion animal, either a dog or a cat in this instance.
I think the first image provides some remarkable statistics. More than half of the people surveyed said they would give up the Internet forever to keep their pet. That must make sense but it would be a massive sacrifice especially to some people.
I can completely sympathise with the 51% who would rather eat a person instead of their companion animal. Although it would be rather difficult to prove it because there are not that many people around to eat!
The 43% who would jump into boiling water to save their pet I think is an amazing figure. To jump into boiling water would quite possibly be fatal and if it was not fatal it would leave massive injuries. I’m not sure that I would have the courage to do it.
At one time I thought I was an exception when I stated that I would kill somebody to save my cat or to protect my cat. And yet this survey states that 32% of the participants would kill a person to save their pet so I am definitely not alone on that one.
And how about the 25% of participants who said that they would lose an arm so that their companion animal could walk. That also is a huge sacrifice and I’m not sure I could make that sacrifice myself no matter how much I love my beautiful cat companion. Could you?
And then 23% of the surveyed people stated that they would give up their own life for their pet. I suppose that this relates to the situation where in order to save your pet you end up losing your life. This would be an extremely rare situation. Sometimes having read this survey I wonder if the people who answered the questions did so theoretically rather than strictly on a practical basis. What I’m saying is if the moment came when you had to give up your life to save your companion animal would you do it?
Cat owners are most likely to save their cat companion in a fire rather than save a priceless family heirloom. That to me makes a lot of sense and I would think that most people would agree with that. To starve for a day so that your cat can eat is not much of a sacrifice either so once again I would have thought that most committed cat guardians would go along with that one. In fact to starve for a day would be positively beneficial to many.
The tug-of-war that sometimes occurs between a family cat and a significant other (a spouse or partner) is a good test and cat owners are most likely to choose their cat over their spouse. I suppose it depends on how much you love your spouse or significant other!
Overall, the statistics from this Abodo pet survey impressively inform us that, in America, cat and dog owners are very strongly attached to their companion animal and they would go to the ends of the world to protect them. It is a confirmation that the vast majority of people consider their cat or dog an important family member. It also indicates to me that all the bad stories we read in the online press about cat abuse and irresponsible cat ownership only relates to a minority. Although a minority is always too much with respect to animal cruelty.
Please search using the search box at the top of the site. You are bound to find what you are looking for.
Sandra_I appreciate your detailed and logical response to the comments. So very sorry to hear about your cat being shot with an arrow.Truth be told, none of us wish to be placed in this situation. Good luck finding the heartless fiend. I have gone thru this, having found two of my cats shot with pellets in the legs and hips. No compensation came out of it for the suffering.
Eva_
Michael__Thank You for supporting me on this one.
Eva
This is a hard one to answer honestly. Of course if my pets were in danger I would defend them and try to save them, but at what cost? I don’t want to burn or lose a limb anymore than the next guy. If push came to shove my instincts would kick in and someone would probably perish.
I want my cats to live a long and healthy life if possible, but I do not plan to die for them nor place my children at risk either. One example of this who be if driving with my family and an animal ran in front of the vehicle. Hey people I just do not know. Eva_
You make a good point, Eva. I think people will only know what they will do when the moment happens. To try and answer the question hypothetically or in a questionnaire is different to answering the question in reality. Nobody will know what they will do until the moment happens. I think that is the point that you’re making and it’s a good point.
Eva, your response is similar to what I’d say. I think about the consequences of dying for my cat, which would mean there would be no one to care for her. Of course, I’d do whatever was possible to defend her, short of killing someone. I don’t think I’d cut off a finger or arm for my cat.
Each day provides me with opportunities to protect and defend my cat by keeping her indoors, except for her walk with halter and leash. And when we’re outside, she’s under my watchful eye. Only yesterday, she could have been in trouble when she jumped up on a neighbors window ledge where I could see what she couldn’t that could have caused injury. Then later I noticed her looking down at the grass intently. I was some distance, about 15′, and couldn’t see what she was looking at, so I investigated, and found a hornet buzzing around a decaying snail, underneath a board. She could have been easily stung, if I hadn’t intervened. Another day, she jumped into a neighbor’s large potted plant that had huge thorns which could have injured her eye, or other part of her body. I try to keep her safe by keeping a close watch, and knowing where she is, both inside and outside.
We’ve recently had a cat shot with a hunting bow, and the suspect is still at large. Fortunately, the Animal Defense League has offered $5000 reward, so I’m hoping that someone who knows who this is will step forward and speak up. Fortunately he cat has survived, after hundreds of dollars paid to the vet.
The interesting thing to me is that I wonder how many of the people who responded to this survey questionnaire, consider that they may be actually killing their own pet, slowly but surely, with poor quality food? Now that’s a more realistic questionnaire I’d like to see.
The tug-of-war that sometimes occurs between a family cat and a significant other (a spouse or partner) is a good test and cat owners are most likely to choose their cat over their spouse. I suppose it depends on how much you love your spouse or significant other!
When a significant other asks you to choose between them and a pet you love it is a form of control and a type of abuse. Take your pet and run the worst is yet to come !
Nice thought ME. You’re right. If a significant other demands either indirectly or directly that you make a decision between your cat and them then it is a form of control and abuse as correctly state which should make the decision to stick with your cat more easy. However, there may be occasions when the choice between cat and person is forced upon you in a more subtle way without a specific demand. I think, to be honest, that the decision should never have to be made because as you imply if both people in a relationship are reasonable they will find a solution which means that the person who loves their cat can keep him/her.
In a heartbeat!
Great answer. The only trouble with killing a person to protect your cat is that you may end up in prison on a murder charge. In fact, the law would not support a person who committed such an act. We can kill a person in self defence as long as it is a reasonable amount of force but we cannot kill a person in defence of our cat without being charged with murder although the sentence would be mitigated using some sort of legal argument such as provocation or temporary insanity which would not be correct but it would be a legal argument that may work to mitigate the sentence.
No doubt in my mind.
We think the same way as usual. I would have to kill that person even though, as I have stated in another comment, it would quite possibly lead to me being charged with murder unless I could kill the person in such a way that protected me from that charge.
Of course I would!
Thanks Geri. I knew you would answer that way 😉