Lucky Dog?
One of the most interesting arguments in favor of human euthanasia and mercy killing usually comes in the form of a question: “If I can euthanize my dog or cat to put it out of its misery, why must I stand by and watch my (child, husband, wife, parent) suffer?”
In other words, if society permits euthanizing other animals, why not humans? Good question,
To answer it we need to understand more about the euthanasia of companion animals. Here are the reasons dogs and cats are euthanized:
- They are abandoned and unwanted. (According to the American Humane Association, “56% of dogs and 71% of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized,” that was 2.7 million animals in the 1000 shelters who responded to their survey. The total number is likely at least three times as high because another 2500 shelters provided no data.
- They have a personality or behaviour problem. (According to the SPCA, this is the single most common reason for euthanizing dogs accounting for as much as 60% of cases, as many as 6,000,000 in a single year)
- Their caregivers are no longer willing or no longer able able to continue caring for them.
- They are considered to be unattractive.
- They have a treatable health condition but euthanasia is a cheaper alternative.
- They are getting old.
- They have physical traits considered to be undesirable for their breed.
- They have untreatable terminal diseases and are in pain.
- In many cases, there is no single, clear reason.
In summary, a small number of dogs and cats are euthanized because they have terminal illnesses or injuries with poor prospects of successful treatment. A vastly, larger percentage of the 10,000,000 animals killed in the US each year, die because they are simply unwanted or not considered worth saving. So the next time some one asks “why can’t grandma die like a dog,” think about what that really means.
Tags: "Mercy" Killing, Ethics, Euthanasia
