My 10 year old son doesn’t believe in euthanizing animals because it’s killing them. I know, I know. :rolleyes: He has to write a couple of paragraphs for school stating why he believes animals should not be euthanized. His only reason for his belief is that, “it’s a life.” Can you help him out with a couple more (and better) reasons not to euthanize animals?
I tried to think of a few, and came up blank. I’d suggest you search to some animal rights groups. I did a little searching and PETA came up, Animal Liberation Front too. I searched to “against euthanasia” + animals. You can find out why directly from the horses mouth. So to speak.
Hmm, is it like a position paper? He’s to write logical arguments supporting his point?
If it were my boy, I’d work on trying to help him develop his arguments beyond the “ick” factor. If that’s all he’s got for reasoning, and I get that that’s a compelling reason especially to a kid, but maybe he needs to think it through a bit more.
Off the top of my head, the only reasons I can think of to euthanize animals are to prevent their suffering if they’re sick/dying, to control the spread of disease or to stop them from starving to death if there’s an overpopulation. How would not euthanizing in any of those instances be a better choice? How could the care and feeding of those animals not euthanized in those examples be subsidized?
Yeah, I gots nothing other than somehow explaining to him that “it’s a life” isn’t always the rational right answer. Good luck.
Maybe read thru some of these google links to find something?
He’s your kid and you can handle this any way you like, of course. But it seems to me that if he can’t back up his viewpoint, he might not really believe it, despite his emotional first reaction to the subject. Perhaps you could talk with him about the realities surrounding animal euthanasia, and he might learn something about approaching controversial topics with logic and intellect rather than emotion. Maybe ask him to make a list of reasons why it shouldn’t be done (it’s a life) and reasons it is done (illness, research, dangerous animals, overcrowding, etc.). He might even be able to draw a distinction between what he thinks is wasteful, and what is actually necessary, and write his paper on that.
Only two that I can think of:
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To spare overly emotional, mentally unstable loved ones that can’t handle it;
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it’s ok to be cruel and let the animal suffer and not put it down since its just an
animal and only the human owner’s feelings are important.
There are several good, humane reasons for euthanasia (as other posters have noted), but not everyone chooses euthanasia for those reasons alone.
I’m sure if you talk to any veterinarian, they will give you examples of people who elected to euthanize their pets because the cost to treat them was “more than they can afford” (which could be a legitamite reason if the treatment is thousands of dollars, but less so if a couple of hundred bucks is all it would take) or because of some “behavioral problem” they just can’t live with (which could, again, be a legitimate reason, but many times would seem like a silly reason to the rest of us, such as shedding too much hair).
Sometimes the same diagnosis leads to euthanasia for some and years of life for others; consider a downer dog, for example. Many dogs who are down in their back legs can live many happy years, if their owner is willing to go through the extra effort required to put them in a doggy cart, carry them outside, clean up after them, etc. But some people, no matter how much they love their dog, are just not willing to do what is necessary in that case.
Some vet hospitals will do euthanasia on demand; thast is, if the owner asks for euthanasia, they will do it (with possibly some consultation if it is a “stupid” reason), while other vet hospitals will only perform eiuthanasia if they agree it is the proper thing to do.
That doesn’t work. If you’re going to give the animal “wants,” I don’t think it’s going to want to die. If you choose to put an animal down, it’s out of your sense that it’s better for it to die peacefully and not suffer - in other words your evaluation of its best interests. Put the way you did, it doesn’t hold any water and it’s the reason that if my parents ask me the same question about putting one of our dogs down I doubt I’d be able to tell them I’m okay with it. Which is not to condemn anyone else who does; I just wouldn’t be able to do it.
“feelings” meant as human emotion more important than animal pain.
Several years ago, my I found a dying cat in the ditch near my mother’s house in the country. I took him back to her house, and we discussed different possibilities. He was barely able to walk, he had a tumor growing out of the side of his head, and he could barely eat or drink. My mother and I took him to the vet to see if there was anything that could be done. The vet told us that the cat was old and dying of cancer. He gave us the choice to either euthanize the cat right then and there, or take him home to let him die in a warm, loving environment. My mother decided to let him come back to her house to die. He lived one extra day, but it was spent in my mother’s lap with her petting him.
I’m not against euthanizing suffering animals, but I think my mom made the right decision in that situation. I think that sometimes it might be just as humane, or even moreso to let the cat die naturally in a warm, cozy house surrounded with love.
Just a personal story that might help your son.
I know what it meant. I don’t think that changes anything I said.