Man's Best Friend or Zombie?

In the movie, “I am Legend,” a sickness caused by a vaccination plagues New York City. All those infected with it become zombies. These zombies cannot be under sunlight, or their skin burns. Many who weren't infected evacuate, except for Robert Neville and his dog, Sam. Having once been a military doctor, he thinks that he may be able to find the vaccine that would cure all those infected. He lets his family go, promising that he will take care of himself and the dog, only to watch them die in a helicopter crash as they leave the city. From then on, it is just him and his dog, exploring the abandoned city, and trying to stay safe. His house is a very secure home, with a laboratory in the basement. There, he has many infected, aggressive mice in cases, and one mouse that is not aggressive in a separate case. This mouse was once infected but appears to be cured somehow. He figures that if he takes blood from the mouse and injects it into a human victim, then that victim may be cured. He later devises a trap to capture a zombie and it works. He captures a woman and takes her back to his lab to be tested on. He tries the serum but it fails, so he begins devising ways to alter the serum. The woman he captured had a zombie boyfriend..GASP! He is infuriated that Neville took her. So, the zombies devise a plan to capture Neville. He follows a mannequin trail to a spot, his foot gets snared, and wakes up to realize he is hanging upside down, with Sam sitting nearby. He frees himself as dusk falls, but it does not give him enough time to get away. UH-OH!!

The undead and their undead dogs surround Neville and Sam. Sam fights them off as best she can and somehow, the both of them make it to Neville's car, and later, his house. Sam is badly injured, as she was bitten by the undead dogs. Neville brings her down to his lab and notices that she is starting to change into a zombie. He is forced to come to the decision of killing his dog or not, and ends up breaking her neck. Though he kills his dog, if a zombie apocalypse occurred and my dog, Maggie became infected, I would not kill her, but rather put her in a cage of some sort until I found the cure. 

From an ethical standpoint, Neville was killing his dog for the greater good. Looking for the greater good for society is a utilitarian principle (Salazar, 1393). He had a utilitarian mindset, thinking that if he did not kill Sam, then Sam would either infect him, or kill him. He decided that killing Sam was for the greater good, because she would not be able to wreak havoc, like the rest of the zombies had. Plus, if Sam had become a zombie and killed Neville, then a cure would never be found, and the rest of the population, wherever they evacuated to, would be at even more of a risk than before.


Although it seems as though killing Sam was for the best, if I was found in the same situation with my dog, Maggie, I would not have the heart to kill her. I believe that it would be immoral to do so. As opposed to Neville’s Utilitarian approach, mine is more of a Kantian thought process. The Kantian way of thinking ethically involves what is known as the “categorical imperative”. The categorical imperative “hold(s) people accountable to their inner value of humanity” and limits what is rational for people to want (Salazar, 1392). Kantianism also demands that people treat each other respectfully. I believe that animals should be treated with respect, too. Sam was nothing but loyal to Neville from the very beginning. Neville raised Sam from a puppy to a grown dog. She was the only family Neville had left, the last connection to the family he lost. Sam slept with Neville every night and protected him from zombies. She deserves to be treated fairly by Neville, but she isn't.  She gets bitten, and instead of being locked up like the rest of the zombies he had in his lab, Neville kills her instead. Sam was an innocent and loyal dog, and, speaking from a Kantian point of view, should never have died.

I love my dog, Maggie, and have a similar bond to her that Neville had to Sam. I raised Maggie. Of my family, I am the only one that she kisses, and I take her everywhere I can. She also tries to sleep with me often. If I were in a zombie apocalypse and Maggie became infected, I would put her in a cage and hope that I found the cure in time to save her. I would not kill her. It would be immoral and unjust to kill my dog, even in a zombie apocalypse. Maggie is an innocent animal and part of the family and should be treated as such. No matter what is happening, a dog is still a man’s best friend, right?

Reference:

Salazar, Heather. "Self-Interest," The New Catholic Encyclopedia, Series on Ethics and Morality, ed. by Robert Fastiggi. Gale Centage Learning, 2013