Are you kiddin me?

[sparks19]

I guess that is where we differ... I would rather take that drive...

And even if I was in severe pain, I would NOT want to be shot. Please let me die naturally, rather than put a bullet through my brain. Sorry to be so frank, but it is what it is...


AND- there is no guarantee that the shot is not painful, but if the animal is sedated first, which they are, then I can not see HOW it could hurt. And if it did, they would not know it....I mean, who is to say we can't feel pain AFTER death? I know that signals stop going to our brain, But prove it? We can't. Only God knows that.

And again... whose to say that a bullet is more painful than an injection of chemicals that shuts our body down? Perhaps they feel that pain after death if they can feel pain from a kill shot after death.

Why is it wrong to kill a dog in other painless methods (not assuming we can feel pain after death) but not to have them put to sleep? If that is the case and they should die naturally you shouldn't be putting them to sleep either. that is just as unnatural.

but again... I will not make my best friend suffer needlessly for my own selfish reasons... so that I can feel better that they died from being injected with chemicals even though they had to endure an extra half an hour of extreme pain so you could get them to a vet rather than end their pain immediately.

that being said... I have had a guinea Pig PTS because it had gastric torsion (I think that's what it was called) I was heart broken. I honestly had hoped she could be saved but it just wasn't possible at that point. And I CRIED my eyes out.

but in a case like teddy's... I KNEW there was no way he could possibly survive and if some "Miracle" (I use that term loosely since it would be a miracle for ME to spend more time with thim but not a miracle for him to have to endure MORE pain) said that he could be treated but would have to endure lots of surgery and MORE pain and never be restored to the playful, healthy pup we loved I just could NOT have done that to him. He would be miserable.

[finn's mom]

I don't know that I could ever do it myself, but I don't necessarily 100% disagree with the method, either. Case by case basis, for me.

As for it being less humane than being put to sleep by injection...I have mixed feelings about that, too. Simply because it seemed like my dog, Bruno, was in pain when I had him put down. He wasn't writhing or screaming, but he didn't seem comfortable, either.

[Miss Z]

I don't think it's fair to compare a wild deer, or even a horse in the same
way one treats a dog in this same circumstance.

A wild deer is wild & couldn't be transported easily to be put down.
A horse out on the range,or far from a Vets office can be treated or
euthanized by injection, if necessary.
A pet dog can be transported to a Vet or 24hr hospital, and put to sleep
with no pain & no trauma to the animal or the human. There are also pills
to help older,arthritic dogs & the animals owner would have plenty of time
to judge the health & welfare of his/her dog and plan accordingly.

To take an animal "out-back" & shoot it yourself is bizzare. Maybe people
did this 60 years ago, but that was then, & this is 2008.

Whilst I can understand why this is your opinion, I'm still not convinced about why a dog is different to any other animal. To me, a life is a life, whether it's that of a dog, cat, horse, human, parrot, bumble-bee, whatever. I don't think that some methods of death are more acceptable for one species than the other.

I think if it really was necessary a wild animal could be transported to a vet's clinic to be euthanised. But it causes far less stress to the animal to shoot it there and then than prolong its suffering for the same outcome.

I have seen a horse euthanised. It's not really as simple as doing so with a cat or dog. A horse is a large, powerful animal and needs a big shot. The poor animal was cast and scared out of its mind - a horse's instinct is to get up and run when it's afraid. It took a while for the drugs to take effect, time in which the poor creature was screaming and paddling the air. It was a harrowing experience. I wish they'd have shot him instead.

And whilst I agree that treatment is the option we pet lovers most like to choose, part of me does understand the reason why perhaps the animal should be humanely killed before it has to face a life of steadily progressive pain and nasty treatment. As pet owners will know, we all have a point with our ailing pets when we say, right, enough is enough. Rest assured had that pet been in the care of someone else, there'd be people who would have given up on it months back, and those that would still want to carry on pumping the animal with treatments. It's just a question of how much pain you can take in. Some people can't hack it.