I live in a suburb of Philadelphia. I do, however, acknowledge that working in animal research changes one’s perspective slightly. Everything we do is about minimizing the pain to the animal, so you start to think about your pets that way even when you’re attached to them.
And, obviously anyone in an urban animal isn’t likely to put down their pet with a gun, because (at least where I live) it’s illegal to discharge a firearm, for very good reasons. A person in an urban environment isn’t likely to have the means to painlessly put down their pet. That makes a big difference. If you don’t have a gun (and know how to use it), and you don’t happen to have some Euthasol on hand (and also know how to use it- I’ve certainly never used it outside of work because because it’s a controlled substance), you don’t have any good options. It’s why I wouldn’t even consider home euthanasia for my cat or dogs unless it was a dire emergency and I had no choice.
I guess it’s hard to think about it being an option when it’s really not an option for you personally.
I don’t think there’s anything wrong with what your friend’s doing, either (with all the usual caveats). I don’t see any problem with humanely killing a pet animal when it comes time. Just because most people (me included) don’t have the stomach to do it ourselves doesn’t make it wrong for someone who does.
I couldn’t do it, and I still feel guilty about letting a kitten suffer a few extra minutes once when I didn’t have the nerve to do something like break his neck. He was born sick and I just kept hoping he’d get better. One night very late I saw he was having horrible spasms and I just kept holding him and hoping it would stop but I knew it wouldn’t. And then he died after about ten minutes of struggling. I should have done something. I will never forget as long as I live that I am a coward.
I don’t think it’s bad at all to tend to your animal, even if it means taking the steps to end suffering. It’s very brave to me. And it should be up to the owner to make a decision like that, not a vet. Even if it’s just because they have an illness the owner doesn’t want to deal with instead of can’t afford to deal with. We are so afraid of death in our sterile city culture but it’s just a fact of life. A bullet to the brain is no worse than taking them off to the vet and causing more trauma before they die.
I come from a long line of farmers and rednecks, and this was pretty much how they all used to do it. I don’t think I could do it myself, but I can definitely see the thought that it would be more humane than dragging the poor animal to the vet. I don’t have a problem with it. I would hope that someone doing this has at least consulted with a vet to make sure that whatever health problems the animal is having are past reasonable treatment.
As an alternate to dragging a pet to the vet’s office for the big sleep, you might check with your vet to see if he can come to your home to do it. I did this with one of my cats a few years ago. I told the vet that I really didn’t want my little friend’s last experience to be a ride to the vet’s office, and arranged for him to come by the next morning. I think he charged an extra few dollars for the house visit, but it was worth it to me.
As long as it is actually painless and swift, then it’s perfectly ethical. Possibly even more so than getting the vet to do it, since the dog doesn’t have to take a painful or scary trip to the vet. I’m not sure that I’m made of stern enough stuff to do it with a gun, but that probably speaks to my inexperience with guns than anything else. I would be willing to plunge the needle myself, if need be.
Shep was a great dog and very much loved. We’d had him for 10 years. When he showed up on the farm, he was a scruffy rescue that had obviously been beaten but he soon adapted. He adored riding in the back of the pick-up but hated thunderstorms and when we had one that shook the windows I’d hold him in my arms on the bed and cuddle him like an oversized stuff animal. Like all our other dogs, he truly was a member of the family.
Last summer, we discovered that Shep had cancer. As soon as it became obvious that he was suffering, we knew we had to terminate his life. He hated the vet as much as he hated storms and riding in the truck was now painful for him. So we locked the other dogs in the house and my husband carried Shep to the back pasture. I held Shep in my arms as Terry put the 22 into the back of head. It was very quick and very clean.
We both cried like babies as we buried him.
I realize that this may seem terribly ‘hardcore’ to some posters but I’m a farmer and I deal in life and death on a regular basis.
I loved that damn dog and I didn’t want to put him through a 6 mile trip to town.
I didn’t want him to be in a place that smelt like fear and death when he died.
I didn’t want him to have to deal with strangers.
It was really hard for us but better for Shep and that’s what it was all about for me.
I admit, I blinked at “standing in the hole it will be buried in,” but that’s because it’s so … poetic, in a Mafia violence sort of way. Still, practical, and spares the animal a traumatic car ride/vet visit in their final hours of illness. Concur with Skald that this is a squeamishness issue, not an ethics one.
Love is the state of mind in which the well-being of another person is essential to the lover’s peace of mind.
You and Terry clearly loved Shep more than someone who would have put him through a pointless and painful ride to the vet so as to evade facing the reality of what was happeing to him. Anyone who calls that unethical is, frankly, a nincompoop.
Should we really be talking about euthanizing him? Seems against the board rules somehow.
Oh. And I had a bad dream about this exact scenario. I was trying to do in my cat, but with my bare hands. Couldn’t get his damned neck broke–took way too long, like several minutes. I was quite upset when I woke up. Had a similar dream about euthanizing one of my kids. I stopped taking brain meds altogether after that one.
I’ve seen horses euthanized next to the site where they’d be buried. For large animals, it makes sense if you’re allowed to bury them on the property and they’re mobile. It saves the hassle of dealing with a 1,000+ lb. corpse. Plus, even when you know the animal is dead and feeling nothing, it can be traumatic to haul its corpse around like that.
If you know you can put down the animal quickly and efficiently with a minimum of fear and pain, I have no problem with it. However, I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who is inexperienced with guns or doesn’t know how to make a clean kill shot. I’ve heard horror stories of botched attempts. Then again, I’ve heard horror stories of botched euthanasia by experienced, skilled vets (particularly with horses).
I see nothing inherently unethical about putting down your own animals, if you are able to do it humanely, and I think one well-aimed shot counts as humane.
Dogs that ventured more than a half mile from home where somebody I knew grew up were liable to be shot, as the working farmers around the area weren’t about to risk a neighbor dog harming their stock. I see the logic there, honestly, even if I don’t like it much.
Said person is a total softie for his dog, so it’s not like he doesn’t like animals. But on a working farm attitudes towards animals aren’t going to be the same as in a city where dogs are carried around in a purse wearing an expensive coat.
Like some of the other posters, I would worry that:
I would botch the shot and make the animal suffer worse
Be stuck with the image of my beloved pet with his bloods and brains oozing on the ground.
But that is the only reason I couldn’t do it. No problem at all with others doing it, and I’m sure that the animal would be more comfortable outside than in a vet’s office.
There’s no way I could possibly do it, or even SEE it done, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with it. Just as long as a person knows what he’s doing, and makes absolutely certain that he’s able to make a clean, instant kill. (Dropping the animal in the hole, though, is the only thing that bothers me a bit – we’ve always buried ours in boxes)