A case for animal euthanasia

Three years ago, my brothers and I adopted a black puppy and named it Kali, which is Swahili for  tough and vicious. We raised him to maturity, built a kennel for him and had him treated by the vet when he fell sick. We loved him to death as we would a new-born sibling.

One black morning, we woke up to find Kali writhing in pain, immobile from his waist downwards. He had been hit hard by a blunt object, probably by a person whom he threatened to attack at the wee hours of the night. My brothers and I then took turns feeding, washing and giving him his medication.

Fast forward a week later and Kali died a painful death. I remember shedding hot and painful tears after helping my brothers bury him. I still think about him from time to time and wonder if I would have embraced euthanising him to ease his death.

The decision to euthanise a beloved pet is one of the most heart wrenching decisions pet lovers can make.

I am quite certain every pet family with an ill, aging pet hopes their pet will die naturally. I am also certain pets rarely die peacefully in their sleep, forcing most pet families to make a decision to euthanise their favourite fur baby.

PART OF THE FAMILY

Pets are considered to be part of the family or best friends, and owners will go to great lengths to provide the best care for them. However, some will insist it is better to euthanise an animal rather than letting them suffer while opposing proponents believe that euthanasia is unethical and that any person or pet should die naturally.

Animal euthanasia did not begin with Sudan, the northern white rhino at Ol Pejeta euthanised Conservancy in Laikipia old age complications that had affected his muscles and bones, and also gave him extensive skin wounds.

Sudan was one of the only three living northern white rhinos in the world, and the last known male of his subspecies.

So why would someone opt to euthanise their pet?

First, it helps with closure and saying goodbye on your own terms. Losing beloved pets can be hard, even worse when you know they died alone and you were not able to say goodbye or comfort them.

You can feel guilty and sad. With euthanasia, you are able to decide when pets will be put to sleep, ensuring they die in the most dignified and comfortable way possible.

You can gather everyone that was part of your pet’s life so they can say their goodbyes and have their closure.

Euthanasia also saves animals from suffering. They have a shorter life spans than humans, so you will witness your pet become sick, even frequently when they grow old, as some will even have difficulty in controlling their bowels.

As their bones and other body parts become older, they will undergo a lot of pain, but you can help them avoid too much suffering by putting them to sleep before their condition worsens.

MEDICAL BILLS

It also saves you from incurring huge medical bills. Veterinary bills, paying for pet insurance is expensive and can be challenging for families that cannot afford such, considering that such bills would skyrocket as your pets require more and more medical insurances as they get older.

But is all this ethical?

The most often heard rejoinder from those that euthanise their pets is that it is ethical because the pet is suffering. This is consoling, so is the response that one had done everything to save their pet’s lives. Yet it is still not satisfactory. But let’s say that pet is a four-year-old human, and decisions would change, euthanasia wouldn’t be a legal option.

If euthanasia is justified at all, it is because we have the patient’s competent consent. But small children are incapable of giving competent consent, which makes it wrong.

Most of us would not even consider euthanising a very young, terminally ill human child; yet most of us would not apply the same standard to a dog or other animal of comparable intelligence, perhaps because most of us think that human life is special in a way that nonhuman life is not.

Justification for euthanasia in terms of ending pain and suffering is a rational argument, but when you conceive your pet as the equivalent of a baby-a dependent, incapable of giving competent consent, you might feel uneasy about your decision.

However, when a pet owner decides that euthanasia is the only option for their old or ailing pet, the pharmaceuticals or veterinaries should ensure that it is a quick and painless procedure. You can also decide to have your pet euthanised at home, in its natural and familiar surroundings to reduce the trauma.

The method by which an animal is euthanised varies according to species and size, from anaesthetic overdoses, injections and drug shooting of horses. An intravenous catheter is placed by the veterinarian for delivery of drugs to the body. Some prefer to use a butterfly catheter, a small needle attached to tubing to perform the procedure. The animal may be wobbly upon delivery of the drug. It will first cause unconsciousness, then a stopping of the breathing and the heartbeat.

Large animals usually tend to drop somewhat suddenly after the drugs are given. Therefore, most veterinarians will often find a quiet, grassy or straw-laden area in which to put the animal to sleep so that the initial fall is not difficult to view.

Frequently following euthanasia, muscle tremors and involuntary jerking may take place, but owners should understand these are unconscious movements or that the animal actually feels nothing.

According to Ian Mureithi from the Kenya Society for the Protection and Care of Animals (KSPCA), euthanasia is universally accepted by the World Organization for Animal Health. He says it should only be one when the animal or pet is suffering more and when under terminal illnesses or organ failure, in which they will not respond to treatment or there is no cure.

Preceding that, the animal should be assessed by a veterinary surgeon to determine whether the animal should be put to sleep or not.

Even then, putting an animal to sleep should be done in a humane way that ensures the animal feels minimal pain or o pain at all. Animals can also be made unconscious prior to slaughtering or death. 

“It is not right to put animals under such intense pain during slaughtering because they also have feelings. When an animal is under stress, it releases a lot of hormones, may over bleed, and at times, the blood can get stuck or clot in some organs. This in turn results to poor quality of meat.’’

However, when it ultimately comes to putting your pet to sleep, nobody can tell you what the right decision is for your pet. So if you are struggling with the decision, you can talk to your veterinarian about your pet’s condition and ask for advice on how to best help them.