# Save a life by maiming someone? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 24, 2010, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245 "2010-08-24T03:35:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/61 "2010-08-26T14:47:41Z")
See, if you’d set it up so the maniac said “Maim this guy or I’ll strangle this kitten” then you would have gotten different responses. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 26, 2010, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/62 "2010-08-26T14:53:33Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > See, if you’d set it up so the maniac said “Maim this guy or I’ll strangle this kitten” then you would have gotten different responses. 😃 Oh god, THAT would get us into one of those animal rights debates. You know, some people saying, “…but it’s an innocent KITTY!!!”, and others, “…it’s just a fuckin’ cat. If I have to choose between a human and a cat…” Possibly an interesting discussion, but not the one I had in mind. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/63 "2010-08-27T01:36:57Z")
I would mutilate a human long before I ever so much as kicked a cute little kitty. Chances are the human deserved it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/64 "2010-08-27T02:27:57Z")
What about an ugly pussy? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/65 "2010-08-27T02:33:33Z")
Why do you hate cats? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/66 "2010-08-27T02:36:14Z")
Oh. Cats… Yeah, that’s what I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/67 "2010-08-27T02:56:49Z")
Oh, well, if we’re talking about, say, Steve Tyler … ---
**Author:** ![Superhal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Superhal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superhal)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/68 "2010-08-27T04:18:12Z")
Never. If he’s only maimed, I end up paying for his medical bills, food stamps, unemployment, etc. ---
**Author:** ![wayward](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a87d85/32.png) [@wayward](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wayward)\ **Post date:** [August 27, 2010, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245/69 "2010-08-27T08:19:57Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > …it is of some concern to me that my refusal to participate results in the guy’s death, and I could have taken an action at no risk to myself that would have kept him alive. So I don’t think I would walk away ‘clean’. No risk to myself? Sure there’s no physical risk but as others have mentioned I’m pretty sure that smashing a dude up with a hammer is not going to be good for my mental health. Not to mention possible legal consequences down the road. I say let him shoot the guy, but I’d ask him (very nicely) to take it outside my house first. I don’t want that mess to deal with. _Maybe_ if the hostage was innocent I could see myself taking the third option and attacking the captor, but that’s going to depend very heavily on the exact circumstances and what I thought I could get away with. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/save-a-life-by-maiming-someone/551245.md?page=3)