Would you eat your pet in a survival situation

[WindVoyager]

Its a dark serious question. I'm not asking it for shock value or for kicks and giggles. I've brought it up else where and most people didn't pause to think about it, they just let their emotions take over and instantly verbally assaulted any one for so much as thinking about eating an aniaml  that is socially accepted as a pet. My fellow prepers how ever paused and thought about it before answering. Some would, some wouldn't.

They rather starve then eat a pet. But in a survival situation such as being trapped by a natural disaster, SHFT or a pandemic and there's no food at the stores you can reach. No doubt you will have food at home and fellow preppers will likely have induced their pets in their prepps so they have extra food but what about those who were caught off guard?

Keep in mind its a hypothetical survival situation. Not every one has stores of food, has a farm and the like. If you and your family\significant other were in a situation were food is short and you had to make some hard choices:

Would you risk your family\kids\significant other by feeding the pet food  that could go to family?

Would you eat someone else's pet if you had no choice?

Would you eat your own pet?

Some pets are not worth eating, small lizard and snakes for example. There is very little nutrition in them. Some are even toxic like toads.


Me personally no. I wouldn't eat my cats but I have a LOT of options. I live very close to a water source that has turtles, fish , gators in it. I have a farm full of chickens, quail and Guinea fowl. 

[AmberStarfire]

I've joked about this before with a previous pet rabbit. "She doubles as a food source in times of war or famine," but I wouldn't actually do it.

If I had a small child to feed or something (I don't have kids), I would do what was necessary for survival, but that's all. For my own survival or even hunger, I view things somewhat differently. She would be little more than a meal or two. If she passed away first, maybe, but I'm a guardian of her life - I'm not here to take it from her. What is hers should be hers, and that includes her wellbeing.

If food was short, I would get by.

[Beguile's Mistress]

I've been at this too long.  I read "If I had a small child..." and my mind went to some strange places in lieu of eating a rabbit.  *facepalms*

I don't have pets so it is a moot point as far as I'm concerned. 

[Oniya]

Carnivores tend to be poor food sources.  Some of the polar explorers even ended up killing themselves by eating polar bear (Vit. A toxicity).  Got farm country just outside town, though, as well as a few 'community gardens' that would make prime raiding.

[HannibalBarca]

I live in a desert, so if it came to that, one pet wouldn't sustain me for very long anyway.  Besides, I'd much more likely be able to hunt with a dog if I had one...though snakes, jack hares, and coyotes would be too few and far between to survive on as well.  I'd have to go somewhere other than Southern California to find enough to live on.

Putting it in a short version...no.  If I had a pet, I wouldn't kill and eat it.  It would probably survive longer than me.

[The Dark Raven]

I don't have a pet, so...

But I would, if need be, move to my cousin's farm and garden while she raised the animals...she has more experience than me and theirs is a working farm anyway.

[Gadifriald]

Some of the polar explorers even ended up killing themselves by eating polar bear (Vit. A toxicity).

It is eating bear liver specifically that can lead to Vitamin-A toxicity.

OT: Don't have any pets currently, but never ever could I have eaten my many years gone now Shelty dog Ty or my more recently passed Siamese cat Tiny.

[DudelRok]

Would depend on "usefulness" and attachment to pet, but there would be better foods sources elsewhere.

[WindVoyager]

Carnivores tend to be poor food sources.  Some of the polar explorers even ended up killing themselves by eating polar bear (Vit. A toxicity).  Got farm country just outside town, though, as well as a few 'community gardens' that would make prime raiding.

Not to mention they taste horrible with the exception of most carnivorous fish, amphibians and reptiles. I too would raid my fellow farmers fields for live stock and corn and the like. More so if no one is home.

I've joked about this before with a previous pet rabbit. "She doubles as a food source in times of war or famine," but I wouldn't actually do it.

I couldn't eat a pet rabbit either. I've had them in the past. its a psychological thing. Wild ones would be fair game

Would depend on "usefulness" and attachment to pet, but there would be better foods sources elsewhere.

If you live some where like I do, LA, then food is so abundant its not funny. You only have to travel a short distance to find a bayou and its always fill of massive snails, fish, crawfish , all manner of birds, frogs,and gators.   

[Fury Aphrodisia]

Facts:

1. I have thirty German Shepherds, two Lab/Huskies, one chocolate Lab, one Australian Shepherd. Most live in the kennels nearby.
2. My dogs are trained with a variety of skills, most common being police, military and search/rescue skillsets.
3. My house dogs -and some of the professional dogs- are hunting dogs. They are trained even to bring me my bow. Because I got bored at Christmas, mostly.
4. Algonquin Park and Rouge River gorge are equidistant from my position.

Conclusion: If I had to, yes, I would eat at least one of my dogs, probably starting with the house dogs (the traditional "pets") because they have fewer skills that will keep me and my sons alive.

However.

With the skills the other dogs have, I might just end up eating someone else's pet.

And it was delicious.

[Oniya]

Facts:

1. I have thirty German Shepherds, two Lab/Huskies, one chocolate Lab, one Australian Shepherd. Most live in the kennels nearby.

Next on Weekly World News:  The Aphrodisia family - Raised By Wolves.

Once the apocalypse comes, you don't have pets - you have a PACK.

[Fury Aphrodisia]

I prefer to think of them as a well-trained professional unit, but in truth, some of those are just barely past yearling, and a few of them are technically retired, so the ones in active training or service is actually around fifteen to twenty. And then if you take out the ones whose training is pretty early in for the year, that's about ten to fifteen, and then you consider that we have a few show/domestic service pets (guide, therapy and other domestic occupations), it's actually about seven or eight dogs with full active military or law enforcement or human survival training, but you'd be surprised how fast a Czech Shepherd pup learns to follow the adults.

Now if only their giant feet and ears didn't keep getting in the way :/


P.S. Technically, it'd be more like Raising Wolves. Or wolf-breeds. But I am totally in love with the concept, and it made me snicker. Thanks for that.

[Oniya]

I have a friend who was involved in Siberian Husky Rescue, and she had her own 'team' (they were able to pull a sled, and did so on occasion, but the opportunities in VA/WV were a little limited.)  She commonly referred to them as her pack.  :D

[Thorne]

Being as how my 'pets' are cats.. no. They're not really big enough to carry much in the way of useful flesh anyway.

The chickens however? Free game, when the hens stop laying. Rude roosters are first on the list.
But I wouldn't call them pets, so ... ^^;

I have a friend who was involved in Siberian Husky Rescue, and she had her own 'team' (they were able to pull a sled, and did so on occasion, but the opportunities in VA/WV were a little limited.)  She commonly referred to them as her pack.  :D

If they can pull a sled, they can probably pull just about anything. Dog-team pulling a cart? *grin*

[TotesRider]

I only have a beta fish right now...
Sorry Gup but yo ass gonna get cooked.

[WindVoyager]

Being as how my 'pets' are cats.. no. They're not really big enough to carry much in the way of useful flesh anyway.

The chickens however? Free game, when the hens stop laying. Rude roosters are first on the list.
But I wouldn't call them pets, so ... ^^;

I have a 155 chickens so far and only one I'd consider a pet only due to his good genetics and how protective he is of the hens.  He's a god protector. The two old as dirt roosters will be put in the freezer soon since their old and not fertile any more and can't produce chicks.

The hens, when any stop laying its a one way trip to the stew pot. The quail don't live long and cycle pretty quickly so I ussualy feed the older ones that are close to the end of their life cycle to the cats since there's so little meat on them its not worth butchering  them

[HannibalBarca]

If they can pull a sled, they can probably pull just about anything. Dog-team pulling a cart? *grin*

Seeing you write that made me think of this:



Dogs are awesome.  I bet they'd be good at being satirical, too, if they could talk.

[Thorne]

Seeing you write that made me think of this:



Dogs are awesome.  I bet they'd be good at being satirical, too, if they could talk.

... you have clearly never met an Afghan Hound. Trust me. They manage. ^^;