It ' s okay to think it ' s fucked up , or to feel that it ' s fucked up . It ' s not okay to respond to that belieffeeling the way you did . I ' m not telling you how to think or what to think , just telling you what I think . You have tried to tell me what I thought , and insisted to me that my own emotional experience was wrong . If you did not wish to communicate the overstepping of these boundaries , you should have been more thoughtful about your replies . I understand not everyone has the same emotional experiences , I just thought that prioritizing innocent children is a normal , easy thing to do . It may be , for some people . I ' m sure for many people it ' s natural . That doesn ' t mean it is , or should be , for everyone . Know also that ' prioritizing ' is a multifaceted word , and one that is not appropriate here . I empathize with dogs also innocent , by the way more immediately and deeply than I do with children that does not mean I prioritize dogs over children in every situation . Would I rather have a dog in my home than a child ? Absolutely . I don ' t babysit and my partner and I are both getting sterilized ASAP . I do have a cat and I ' d like to adopt more cats and some dogs in the future . In that sense , I prioritize cats and dogs over children . Voluntarily I will bring a cat or a dog to be a permanent resident in my home , but I would do almost anything to avoid having to do the same for a child . Also I would be a terrible parentguardian , so there ' s that to consider . I ' m a pretty good pet mom . As I said earlier , however , forced to choose between saving a dog and saving a child , I would probably pick the child . Edit additions and clarity