Given a choice of saving their pet and another human, almost half of Americans would choose their pet if the person were a foreign tourist.
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A study conducted by George Regents University found that the more distant the person, the more likely an American was to choose their beloved pets in a life-or-death dilemma over a human.
500 participants were given a hypothetical situation involving an out of control bus rolling toward a dog and a human. Which would they save?
A known human was almost universally chosen over a strange dog. When it came to choosing their own dog over an unknown human, the results changed.
40% of all respondents, including 46% of all women, would choose their pet dog over a foreign tourist in the above scenario.
Source
- Mind & Matter: Our Unique Obsession With Rover and Fluffy (Robert M. Sapolsky, Wall Street Journal: August 16, 2013)
- Nearly half in the U.S. would save a dog before a foreigner (Kristen Butler, UPI: August 19, 2013)
