Is it a sin to have your cat put to sleep?

Great Debates
1

(No, I’m not asking for advice.)

This came up earlier this evening while I was getting my hair cut.

My barber mentioned that he had another client who had put her cat to sleep. Not because the cat was old or sick, but because it was “mean and ornery,” peed on her clothes, and hated her. The feeling was mutual, so one day she took it to the vet and had it put to sleep.

My barber then wondered if she had brought it up in confession. The woman is Catholic.

I wondered if that was even a sin, from a Catholic perspective. She didn’t torture the cat. My barber, however, thought it probably was a sin – “She murdered the cat,” was his POV. But though I’m no expert, I’m pretty sure that killing an animal doesn’t qualify as “murder” from a Catholic POV.

So: Did that woman sin by having her cat put to sleep? Should she have mentioned in confession? If putting a cat to sleep in those circumstances is a sin, what kind of sin is it? What would the penalty be?

Bonus question: Would it be a sin in other branches of Christianity, or other religions?

I’m interested in factual answers, by the way, not opinions about whether or not what she did was ethical or moral or justified. I’m interested in the theological aspect, not a debate. (Someone else can open that thread.)

2

[QUOTE=Interrobang!?]
(No, I’m not asking for advice.)

This came up earlier this evening while I was getting my hair cut.

My barber mentioned that he had another client who had put her cat to sleep. Not because the cat was old or sick, but because it was “mean and ornery,” peed on her clothes, and hated her. The feeling was mutual, so one day she took it to the vet and had it put to sleep.

My barber then wondered if she had brought it up in confession. The woman is Catholic.

I wondered if that was even a sin, from a Catholic perspective. She didn’t torture the cat. My barber, however, thought it probably was a sin – “She murdered the cat,” was his POV. But though I’m no expert, I’m pretty sure that killing an animal doesn’t qualify as “murder” from a Catholic POV.

So: Did that woman sin by having her cat put to sleep? Should she have mentioned in confession? If putting a cat to sleep in those circumstances is a sin, what kind of sin is it? What would the penalty be?

Bonus question: Would it be a sin in other branches of Christianity, or other religions?

I’m interested in factual answers, by the way, not opinions about whether or not what she did was ethical or moral or justified. I’m interested in the theological aspect, not a debate. (Someone else can open that thread.)
[/QUOTE]

IANAP(riest nor deacon), but I have never believed in the categorization of sins, as if there is some canonical penal code. Many people use lists, e.g., the commandments or a list of the seven deadly sins, as guidelines, but the whole idea of sin is a turning away from the love of God, usually by hurting another or hurting our relationship with God. Many would argue, that due to our position (as a dominant species on this planet, with the ability to reason) we have a duty to take some care over those in our care. If the cat was put down as a convenience to the woman, there may have been a breach of this duty. If the cat was put down as being incorregible, with no (or little) hope for co-existing, then maybe not. While there are some sins that can be determined from an objective point of view, I feel these are few and far between, that the best way to determine culpability for a sin is a personal subjective analysis.

I know this is not the type of answer being sought by the OP, but real life sinning is much more complex than going through a list and checking boxes.

In any respect it would seem to be a venial sin, to use the classic dichotomy, as – based on the facts given by the OP – this is not a complete turning away from God

3

Pretty sure the church does not recognize animals as having souls so on that count all is good.

On the flip side doing “evil” is a sin.

I think the ultimate answer is what was in her heart when she did it. Was it, “Kill the little fucker and I want to watch it suffer!”

Or was it, “My heart breaks to see this happen but I have no other choice!”

Or something in between?

In the end God knows your heart and no dodging that.

4

It helps to consider the alternatives…

  1. She doesn’t have the cat put down, but gives it to a shelter where it pines away until its “stay allowance” has run out and is put to sleep.

  2. She just boots the cat out and it dies cold alone, scared and hungry “on the streets”.

  3. both she and the cat “stay together” feeling mutual tension and stress until the cat (or she) dies of old age.

  4. she gives the cat to another person who may or may not be able to “rehabilitate it”; this person either does this or passes it on, or has it put down.

If the cat is as incorrigable and mean as she claims, then perhaps it is better and kinder to just put it down. Think of the long term stress points the cat will “score” over its life time in any of the previously mentioned scenarios.

I feel qualified to say this as I have always been a “cat rescue-er”. My cats Diesil and Esprit are both cats that “no one wanted, and were antisocial rejects” Esprit is a bit of a psychocat, but Diesel is a cat among cats for his intellegence, wit and well “great” cat-ness.

Their back stories would be TOO long to go into here, but suffice to say they would be dead by now if I hadn’t accepted them into my home.

On the other hand, I firmly believe that cats should be house bound animals, as the obliteration of birds, squirrels and other urban animals is largely due to free roaming and breeding out door cats.

So, is it a sin to put down a very difficult cat? No. Its just the last resort.

FML

5

[QUOTE=Interrobang!?]
I’m interested in factual answers, by the way, not opinions about whether or not what she did was ethical or moral or justified. I’m interested in the theological aspect, not a debate. (Someone else can open that thread.)
[/QUOTE]

Since this is not a matter of definite canon law even for Catholics, and since the question is even less defined for other religions, there is no strictly factual answer to this question. I don’t see how this can be productively addressed in GQ terms.

Moving to GD.

Colibri
General Questions Moderator

6

My SIL had an asshole cat that was mean, ornery, filthy, and lived in a wall.

I would have put the cat down years before if it was up to me (and I LOVE cats). It had no quality of life, no interaction with humans, and fought with the other cats.

When my SIL died, they took it to a shelter that had Asshole Cages for asshole cats to live forever in ornery solitude.

I wouldn’t have wasted the real estate, but there you go.

To answer the question, not a believer in souls, but this cat had a horrible existence. What good could come from leaving it alive?

7

No, it is not a sin to kill a cat. It is not a sin to have a cat killed for you.
It was an animal.
Animals can be killed for food, for recreation, for being a pest, or for simply being inconvenient.

8

Is that your personal opinion, or does it have a theological basis?

9

Well, from the catechism:

10

That’s the kind of thing I’m looking for. It sounds like, in general, the woman in question should’ve at least brought up her circumstance in confession.

11

[QUOTE=Interrobang!?]
Is that your personal opinion, or does it have a theological basis?
[/QUOTE]

Given that I am an atheist, I justify little on the basis of theology. Maliciously hurting other people is something that I would classify as a sin i.e. evil. Killing an inconvenient cat is the moral equivalent of uprooting a weed.

12

Except, maybe, for the part about a weed not having a central nervous system and being able to experience pain.

13

Personal experience here:

I had a cat for not quite five years. Raised it from a kitten. Had it declawed, although my other cat wasn’t, because it would not learn it couldn’t use the furniture as a scratching post. When the cat was about a year and a half old it started peeing in the hallway. Not all the time, but more and more often. I spent money on medical tests. I spent money on cleaners, and odor maskers. I cleaned the litter twice a day. For a while I tried the water pistol aversion therapy. Nothing worked, and the hallway carpet was ruined, and it would smell.

Why the cat did this I don’t know. I loved it, and it was treated no differently than any other cat I ever had. But I was getting really stressed, and angry too. Like other posters upthread I considered other options, but decided nobody would adopt such an animal, and I didn’t want it to go to a shelter. So I talked to my vet, who knew of all my efforts and asked if, in his opinion, euthanasia would be a “moral” option. I know the vet is Christian, so am I, although we are of different denominations. The vet said yes, it would be moral. So I had it done. I held him as the vet gave him the shot, and told him I was sorry, that it wasn’t his fault. He’s buried in my back yard.

Sometimes, sadly, I think there is no option, even when the pet in question is not physically ill. But I wouldn’t do it without a lot of thought.

14

[QUOTE=Scumpup]
Given that I am an atheist, I justify little on the basis of theology.
[/QUOTE]
If you’re an atheist and don’t know much about Catholic theology, then the OP wasn’t addressed to you. I didn’t call this thread “In your opinion, is it OK to have your cat put to sleep?”

15

[QUOTE=Interrobang!?]
If you’re an atheist and don’t know much about Catholic theology, then the OP wasn’t addressed to you. I didn’t call this thread “In your opinion, is it OK to have your cat put to sleep?”
[/QUOTE]

Given that I was raised Catholic and attended Catholic school, I have a fair knowledge of the doma. To clarify for you: Nothing I learned either at catechism or Catholic school conflicts with what I said above.

16

I think Captain Amazing has given us the closest we will get to an definitive answer (per my understand that OP is looking for an explanation of Catholic teachings, not our own opinions). But even among Catholic priests there is some room for interpretation. A priest in a rural area where animals are seen as property may tell you that the death was not “needless” – she couldn’t keep the cat in her house, and really there is only so much time and money you can spend trying to fix up or re-home a mean cat that pees everywhere. Per quote, take care of humans first and all that. In contrast, a priest in an well-to-do urban neighborhood, where animals are pets first and people have the money to care for them, may say that she should have exhausted other resources first, such as visiting the vet or finding a no-kill shelter, since the cat is living creature that she took responsibity for.

17

[QUOTE=Interrobang!?]
I’m interested in factual answers, by the way, not opinions about whether or not what she did was ethical or moral or justified. I’m interested in the theological aspect, not a debate. (Someone else can open that thread.)
[/QUOTE]
Closed without prejudice at the (e-mail) request of the OP. (Anyone who wishes to debate the topic is free to start a new thread.)

[ /Modding ]