(Continued)
We spent some time the week before last debunking the spurious reasons some people give for opting to kill their pets. Let’s continue today with some more not-so-good arguments that pet owners use to justify euthanizing their companion animals.
The pet’s unalterable
behaviour
High up on the list of reasons which people have given me, over four-and-a-half decades as a practising veterinarian, as a justification for euthanizing a pet is that the animal has become a devil incarnate. Literally! ‘Felix’ the cat has become ‘possessed’; he has become a demon. No one has ever requested that I use my skills, like Cesar the TV ‘Dog Whisperer’ does, to repair the emerging psycho-pathology. Nor has anyone demanded that I exorcise the demon devil.
The truth is that there may be a curable treatment for any animal which had been the friendliest angel, but which has morphed into an aggressive incontrollable beast. Only recently, I saw a ‘Cat Whisperer’ cure a cat that had become violent to the wife in the family, after it previously had gotten along so well with the lady of the home. The cat scratched and bit her incessantly, and urinated all over the house, even right in front of the litter box (something that it had never ever done before). It turned out that the husband, who had also loved and cared for the cat, had gotten a new job which entailed long periods of absence from the home. The wife bathed the cat every day and twice on Sundays and hardly ever played with it. The ‘Cat Whisperer’ introduced methodologies to curb the violence. The point of this story is that many animals which have ‘changed’ (behaviourally) cause the owners, who can’t handle the new behavioural patterns, to opt for euthanasia. But, as the story shows, the situation can change for the best with knowledgeable and appropriate interventions, resulting in the continued existence of your pet.
Also, as in the case of the cat story above, owners who are busy are often somehow convinced that pets will train themselves. I suppose television and ‘Lassie’/’Rin Tin Tin’-type films lure pet owners into believing that such superlative behaviour, as exhibited by the canine movie stars, happens by magic. But the reality is that much training is involved.
When the untrained pet suddenly grows up and starts becoming aggressive and pushy at home; tears the place down when the owner leaves the house; starts attacking other pets; won’t urinate/defecate outside of the house or in the provided litter box; or starts barking and annoying the neighbours, many owners see euthanasia of that problem animal as a quick fix: problem solved. This line of thinking is not acceptable.
Pets can be euthanized for behavoural issues (as I mentioned in an earlier column). However, this should not take place until every avenue towards rehabilitation has been pursued, and that everything has been tried that should be tried, not lastly veterinary consultation.
One exception to this point is aggression towards people. Some dogs and cats, especially large breed dogs, can be so aggressive as to pose a significant safety risk to their owners, the public and other pets. These animals may be candidates for euthanasia, because of the risk of a major attack incident taking place even while behavioural modification is taking place.
Kill the pet and make room
for a new one
Another not-so-valid reason for euthanizing actually is the exaggerated version of an argument pro-euthanasia which we discussed in the Pet Corner of September 7. It has to do with an extreme expression of the ‘throw-away’ society in which we live. The proposition is kill the pet before we go on leave and get a new puppy when we return. This method is cheaper than placing the incumbent pet in the GSPCA’s Animal Clinic and Shelter, or with people who will board and accommodate the animal for a fee.
Most reasonable people would (and should) find this method of dealing with essentially a minor and relatively easily solvable problem completely abhorrent. One colleague, on whom I have greatly relied for this text, tells the story of a family who put down their dog each year when they went away at Christmas, because a new puppy was cheaper to buy than paying a few weeks’ worth of boarding kennel fees for the current pet. Sometimes you wonder about people.
Custody dispute
Finally, there is the issue of custody dispute and negotiation. No, I am not referring to children; rather there is the vexation of adults who have fallen out of love with each other and are going their separate ways, but they have not fallen out of love with their pet.
In recent years in some affluent (but not only) parts of the world, bitter custody battles have started to crop up whereby ex-partners (married or otherwise), lawyers in tow, are fighting over which of them gets full custody of the family pet. Unfortunately, one of the side effects of all this pain and angst and highly charged emotions is that, every now and then, one of the two owners will attempt to get some form of revenge on the other person by euthanizing the pet in question. It’s one of those ‘if I can’t have it, then no-one will’ situations. Don’t do this. It’s not the pet’s fault that your relationship fell apart so don’t punish the animal.
Enough for today. Enjoy your week.
Please implement disease preventative measures (vaccinations, routine dewormings, monthly anti-heartworm medication, etc) and adopt-a-pet from the GSPCA’s Animal Clinic and Shelter at Robb Street and Orange Walk, if you have the wherewithal to care well for the animals. Do not stray your unwanted pets, take them to the GSPCA’s Clinic and Shelter instead. If you do not wish your pet to have puppies or kittens, you may exploit the GSPCA’s free spay and neutering programme. If you see anyone being cruel to an animal, or if you need any technical information, please get in touch with the Clinic and Shelter by calling 226-4237.
