Compassion or convenience?

I received a call from someone yesterday, asking if I could help get a Shih Tzu adopted. It seems his owner had just bought him, but discovered he has a skin allergy/condition that may require quite substantial treatment. His owner thinks that is too much trouble, so the owner decided to bring him to the vet to have him euthanised.

Euthanasia is a Greek-derived word that means “good death”. Some people call it “mercy-killing” and some people say it is painless. But is it, really? It induces cardiac arrest and the victim gasps for breath at the last moments before life expires.

Some people opt for euthanasia out of compassion, especially when the animal is suffering so much that they want to end its misery. Some people do it out of convenience. Whether it is out of compassion or convenience, only that person would know. I would never dare to judge another person’s actions because I do not know his or her intentions. It is also not my business to judge others.

But I recall many years ago when I was at the vet’s and a kind lady was waiting with her 13- year old dog. The dog was blind and diabetic and she was there for his monthly check-up. She also gives him his daily insulin jabs and does not re-arrange her furniture so that her dog can get around the house. She tells me her friends “scold” her for tying herself down by looking after a blind dog. “Why don’t you just put your dog down?”, they advised. And to this, her little daughter would answer, “Would you put your grandmother down if she was blind?”

Children have a greater wisdom than adults because their minds are still pure and untainted by social conditioning.

I was told that in Bali, there is no euthanasia for animals (I may be wrong, but I’d like to believe it is true). If the animal is unwell, the vet would advise you on how best to look after him/her and you do it, because that’s the right thing to do.

It doesn’t need high education for us to know what is right and wrong. All it takes is to look deeply into our hearts, and we will know.

P.S. I found a willing adopter for the Shih Tzu, but the owner was not interested. The last I heard, someone had taken the dog from him to be rehomed. That’s good.