Eating ones best friend?

[Prep Girl]

Have to agree with you there NR, I'd feed the cat to the dog, fatten it up a bit before I stuck it on the bbq.

[uks]

I think this is the case of the chicken and egg. What would you do eat the chicken for one meal or have nearly an egg a day from a good layer?.

[Preacher]

(14 February 2012, 22:54)NorthernRaider Wrote:

(14 February 2012, 22:11)Preacher Wrote: A loyal, territorial dog is more useful than most people.. So.. I'd kill a person to feed the dog and take their food, before I kill the dog to feed myself

And this is where I came in, back to the issue that ended up with me being banned from another forum. When we get to the silly stage where people puts dogs and cats ahead of people its definately time for me to go.

its not a matter of putting a dog ahead of a person. Its simply a matter of improving the chances of me and mine, by whatever means I have at my disposal. Some will kill and canibalise their nieghbours. Thus. Improving their chances

I will kill to maintain the early warning and defence system, that will fight to protect me and mine. It just happens to be a dog.

[Timelord]

Mobile Food source?

Loyal Protector?

I suppose it may depend on the dog itself. Some are not cut out for it. others may be a suitable breed, but individually not capable or opsec enough.

Also it would depend on the preppers individual situation - and this may change over time.

If the dog was a good useful one and maybe could hunt small game - then what? What if the game was absent. Would you keep it for future use or redeem it as nutrition in dire circumstance?

If you were starving, then could you eat your loyal companion? I guess some could and some would not. Is it merciful to terminate the dog if the situation gets desperate?

In history in extreme survival situations, the dogs are often eaten as a last resort. Generally if you were forced to eat your dog or dogs, then it was usually near the end of the road and only luck etc may be ones saviour.

Eating sparse useful resources wether dog, donkey, cow, mule or similar is always going to need a serious weighing up. These resources are not easily replacable.

This does not readily apply if bugging out on ones lonesome, but may well be a scenario that develops.

It is a good thing to have contemplated this scenario beforehand. It may only be one of you in a group, either you or an ally that you are surviving with that owns the animal. How would you handle it then? Is this unanswerable until you actually find yourself in that situation? Could it spark a critical falling out when morale is already low?

To some people their pets are like children. It may easier to justify euthanising a pet that is no use, in fact it may be a necessity at a much earlier stage for practical reasons - But for a pet that is useful, then there could be some strong opinions.

I read that when a human intake of calories is below about 1500 per day over a longer term, then emotions become suppressed. This was noted by German doctors in the prisoner of war camps in WW2 (Alas Babylon - so not checked for real) So this may result in decision making that is quite different from what we would feel now.

Just thought it would be an interesting question and one that many pet owners will often ponder. TL

[Barneyboy]

taste like spam yum!!!

[Skean Dhude]

There will be a lot of abandoned dogs roaming around. They will not be scared of humans. They will walk right up to you. Some will be vicious. They all taste like chicken. Link these together and I think we may have meals on legs for a short time after an event before they become feral. We should take advantage of any resource.

[bigpaul]

(15 February 2012, 11:20)Skean Dhude Wrote: There will be a lot of abandoned dogs roaming around. They will not be scared of humans. They will walk right up to you. Some will be vicious. They all taste like chicken. Link these together and I think we may have meals on legs for a short time after an event before they become feral. We should take advantage of any resource.

thats what i said SD, i would not eat our own dog-much too useful as a guard dog, hot water bottle etc, but any stray dogs or cats would go straight into the pot.

[Preacher]

If we're discussing a hypothesis based on the question "if it came down to it" we must take as given, the premis that normal available food resources have already fallen BELOW that which is necessary to accommodate the surviving population.

In that situation, eating an emaciated dog may extend your family's survival for a couple of days, but reducing the human population in your area to a level that those resources can sustain is the logical solution... And I for one, won't be shooting my grandchildren, or doing anything to reduce their level of security.

Timelord's point about extreme hunger changing the way we think is a case in point... If we wait until that tipping point has come BEFORE we take the action necessary to preserve our own families by altering the food:population ratio, we WON'T be thinking straight.

Survival is about taking the decisions necessary to keep our genes in the pool, without emotion, without adherance to a dead society's moral code and most importantly, while we're still fit enough to do something about it....

I'm sorry if some of you think that makes me cruel, or harsh, but by the time you'r first child dies of hunger, it'll be too late to take the action that would've saved their life.

[NorthernRaider]

Any preppers kids under my protection after TSHTF would get fed Tiddles, Fido and anything else I came across, I can put humans out of guard duty,Protecting the next generation is my ultimate objective, Canine ,Feline, Equine,Bovine, Avian, Cetation, Symian I dont care, its going in the pot. Protein from worms upwards and only stopping at Yumans, not sure about Chavs though.

[Scythe13]

I think that digging in the ground could unearth enough worms to make a reasonable meal, for you and Fido. Also, catch a load of bugs and flies.

I really think that looking at eating a dog is a gross underestimation of the abundance of 'odd' food sources available.

Whip up a load of dandilons, some worms (while digging a composting toilet) and some flowers, and you'll have a hearty meat and salad meal.

Anyway, I quite like our dog. Having said that, myself and AlyBear have spoken and decided if it came to it.....she would kill me if I killed the dog. But we both figure there is enough food around. Anyway, Jess has a habit of coming back to us with the odd rabbit, and the alike. Once she even brought us a deer leg! No joke! We didn't have a clue where she found it, but a dog that has those kind of skills......worth keeping.