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Originally Posted by Unswydd  Okay, I've been following this thread and now I'm wondering what would I do if Jake, my 10 year old Sheltie, my camping/hiking partner were to get mortally wounded and I had to "put him down". I live semi-rural and there is a pretty busy street out in front and I occasionally catch him wandering slowly across the street to visit the neighbor dogs. He doesn't hear or see really well. I usually keep him on a long lead but sometimes I let him off. I had to go get him today and really reprimand him which really hurts me and him. He's a great sulker but I had to do it.
But.....what if.....funds are so low.....I just don't know how I'd do it.....My neighbor across the street probably has guns plenty.......should I ask him to do it.....should I do it myself......could I ever live with myself if I did it...... |
Ever read Steinbeck's "Of Mice and Men"? The old man, when he allows the other men who are mad at his old incontinent dog for peeing on the floor, to take it out back and shoot it, rather than doing it himself, goes through the same dilemma. He hates the thought of killing his long-time friend, but his cowardice at doing what needed to be done means that his dog is cruelly treated as it is dragged outside, is frightened and alone when it dies, and the old man is tortured by that knowledge. He tells George that he should have been the one pulling the trigger, making his dog as happy as he could, knowing it was loved, and everything would be ok, before taking it's life, not scared with a stranger pointing a shotgun at it's head.
It is what makes George do what he does at the end of the story, in fact. Lenny was always very happy thinking about his rabbits.
Facing death, especially when we are the instrument of that death, is a hard thing. It is something we avoid at all costs, and when faced with it, we find ways to sterilize it, distance ourselves from it, and rationalize it. We are fragile when it comes to thinking about the mortality of things close to us. Friends, family, pets. Farm animals have the advantage of being bred for that purpose, but even they (as this thread illustrates) can be difficult to deal with at the end. It is what makes us moral and shows we have empathy, even with animals in our care. However, if it is a choice between a poor quality of life, with pain and suffering ahead for the animal, and a quick death with little or no pain and the knowledge that you are with them and they know you are doing what is best for them, then that should be easy. Sad, but easy. You do what is right for them, not for you. Selfish people would keep an animal in pain but alive, because they don't want to face the reality of the situation. A true animal lover would take care of the animal, including putting it down, if that is what was needed.
I think you would do what is right for Jake should that occur, Unswydd. Hopefully that won't be for a LONG LONG time, of course.