For the purposes of this thread, “animal cruelty” shall mean “illegal, or against the law”. We all have our own ideas but I’m not looking for a debate, I’m interested in the legalities.
I know that if I have an old sick suffering dog, it’s legal to put it out of it’s misery, meaning I could take it to the vet to be “put to sleep”. Along the same lines, if I didn’t want to stress the dog further, I could take that same dog out and shoot it, and bury it in the back yard, right? (local ordinances aside)
When does it become animal cruelty? Is it purely exacting pain and suffering on the animal? Can you legally “euthanize” a healthy animal?
People in some areas drown entire litters of unwanted kittens. I’ve known people that had otherwise healthy cats “put to sleep” at the vet’s, because they wouldn’t use the litter box. All the time, people move to apartments that won’t accept pets, they drop them off at the pound, and they are killed a week later.
Inspired by this pit thread and the included article, when does it become animal cruelty? The linked example is obviously animal cruelty because the dogs were made to suffer, but what are the dividing lines? If the guy had shot each dog in the back of the head, giving them a quick painless death, would the DA have a case?
And if it is indeed to legal to kill your own otherwise healthy dog, how far could someone take it? Could you buy up all the dogs and cats in your area and “put them to sleep”?
(Before anybody jumps to any conclusions, I’m an animal lover and I’m just curious)
I’m not so sure you could just shoot your own pet to euthanize it unless there were special circumstances; like you’re on a road trip, you let Rover out to pee and he gets hit by a car, you’re miles from nowhere and the poor thing is suffering; you have a pistol with you. etc.
Not so sure if you’re a mile from your vet and do it so save a trip (and expense).
The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons in the UK has the following to say about Euthanasia - from their Guide to Professional Conduct (link):
So, in the UK at least, you can euthanise your animal by yourself, as and when you see fit, as long as you make every effort to do so humanely. Putting down a cat that won’t use the litter box would perhaps be exeptionally selfish, but could be legal.
I would challenge someone to show me that taking your pet out, humaely, is illegal. At age 17 the first Pug I ever had had to be put down due to cancer and epilepsy at age 12. It cost more than I could afford, but I just loved her too much to do it myself. (My dog, I refused help from parents to pay, went payment plan)
I’d agree that it can be unethical (cat not using litter box) as you could try to find a foster home, but sometimes there are just too many pets for the pound to handle and pets get sent to the big farm in the sky. Main reason I’m an advocate of fixing pets if they aren’t breeding quality. I mean, why pass on genes that don’t improve the breed?
Now I know this is tough to bear, and it hurts pet lovers as I am, but a shotgun blast to the head of an animal is not only painless (and really fucking disgusting if you’ve never shot anything) but guaranteed to instantly expire the animal without it knowing ever what you plan to do. Remember, humans are the only animal that knows it will die someday.
Yet, I’ll still never be able to do it myself. I just love my animals too much.
As far as laws go, in my state of NM, I believe that you can legally kill your live property yourself as long as it’s done in a “humane” fashion with disposal regulated to some degree. What methods are “humane”, I don’t know. With all the Petards and Humaniacs in the Santa Fe and Albuquerque areas, I can see legislative attempts being made to interfere with this private property right.
Although IANAL, IAAV and I can tell you that in my area (Pennsylvania) the owner of a domestic animal is free to kill said animal. You must comply with other laws in doing this; so for instance if it is against the law to discharge a weapon in your city you cannot shoot the animal.
This can lead to all kinds of situations. For example, it is not unusual for someone to kill (or have euthanized) a pet during divorce proceedings out of spite.
When I was down to three dogs (Great Danes all), and no longer breeding, I moved from a house into an apartment. I placed my 6 months old pup with a fine family who had already given a retirement home to another of my dogs. I kept the adult bitch with me (hoping I’d be able to breed her in a few years, and so not lose my bloodline), and I had her brother euthanized. Leo was a beautiful dog, but he was a fear biter, and I didn’t have a place to put him. I would not have placed him in a home that didn’t know the problem, and all of my friends who would/could have a dog already had one or more.
So I took Leo to the vet, and held him in my arms (on the table; he weighed about 120 pounds), and popped the vein for the vet. Yes, I cried afterwards. I cried every time I put one of my dogs down, no matter what the reason, as pets are “junior people” to me. I believe that we have great responsibility towards our pets. We are responsible to keep them safe (warm in winter, not overheated in summer), fed, medicated to the limits of their needs or our pocketbooks (and I ran a tab with my vet most of the time), and under control. If/when the time comes that one is unable to fulfill all of the above, it’s time to either find someone else who can and will, or see them safely dead.
A euthanized pet will never be cold, hungry or abused. That’s my guideline, and if I can’t ensure it has all of the criteria mentioned previously, it is my responsibility to ensure it will not suffer.