Exercising the Privilege of Euthanasia

One of the sad tasks that I perform as a veterinarian is euthanasia. The loss of a life and the loss of the companionship of a friend is a sad event. As I remind owners, euthanasia is never meant to be an easy decision or an easy procedure to perform. I am glad that my profession has the privilege to end suffering.
Clients will often ask if their pet is suffering. For me, as a clinician, suffering occurs when a patient is experiencing pain and distress with no hopes of recovery. These are exactly the patients that deserve the right to be relieved of their burden. Clients often take weeks or months with their chronically ailing pet, making sure that their decision is made carefully and at exactly the right time. In other instances clients are faced with acute illnesses or traumatic events that lead them to consider humane euthanasia.
There are times when I feel that euthanasia is inappropriately utilized. An example is when it is used to control healthy populations in shelters and at humane organizations and then there are the instances that we at our hospital call 'convenience euthanasia'. I was presented with a convenience euthanasia just this past week. It was an older dog, he was brought in through our emergency service, he had severe dental disease and some other mild, chronic issues. He was walking and alert, he was eating and drinking. He desperately needed a dental, but otherwise he appeared healthy and stable. I had never seen this pet or these owners before so we had no long term relationship to use as a reference. I explained to the owners that I could not euthanize such a healthy individual. I offered teeth cleaning and other management options. They were irate saying that I was taking advantage of them since I felt I could make more money off of treating their pet than euthanizing the little dog. They stormed out of the office in search of another veterinarian to assist them.
It certainly is true that treating illnesses is my business and it is more profitable to make a patient well than to kill it. But that is not my motivation for my decisions and I take grave exception to those that think otherwise. I feel it is more ethical and humane to make a pet well rather than to euthanize it. That is why I am a veterinarian.
Fortunately, the vast majority of the patients that I assist in passing are owned by conscientious and well informed owners that take care in making the tough decision to allow their pet to pass away peacefully. For those clients I can be there for them and their pets.

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