Most people find various animals a source of interest and enjoyment. Some domesticated animals make good companions as pets. For example, dogs are known to give unqualified obedience and affection to their masters. Thus, the attachment that people may have for such a pet is understandable, especially a pet that they have had for years.
However, the life span of most pets is not very long. Dogs may live for 10 to 15 years or so, as may cats, depending on the type. In old age, pets may suffer sicknesses and disabilities that can be distressing to their owners, who remember the younger and more active years of these animals. Would it be wrong to put such animals out of their misery, to put them to sleep?
2007-04-18 12:36:05 · 12 answers · asked by Free Bible Study 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Not at all wrong. I had to have my beloved little Yorkie (Hannah) put down Mar 18, 2006. She had been my little companion for almost 12 years, but she was in kidney failure and she was suffering. It was a very hard thing to do for MY feelings...but for her it was the only thing I could do... :(
2007-04-18 12:41:53 · answer #1 · answered by Stormilutionist Chasealogist 6 · 6⤊ 0⤋
Putting an animial to sleep is what a vet does before operating, in part to save the animal having to suffer through it. It is no different when what all they have to look forward to is a painful dying process. If animals possess any hope at all, it is that we will take care of them. It only makes sense that we would not make them unneccessarily experience the pain of a long drwn out painful life or death process. Some people may be afraid to, thinking that animals live on after death, much as they believe that people do. However, death is actually the cessation of life, rather than a continuation of it in another realm. It does an animal no harm to ease them into such a state of non-consciousness, & nonexistance. We are thus free to remember them in the happy & healthy times of their existance with us. Thus we can smile in remembrance of them, rather that cry over the pain they went through. We can be proud that we did the responsible & loving thing, even though it may have been Very Hard!
I had my old cat "Fido" put to sleep when she went into kidney failure, at I think 17yo. It still brings tears to my eyes. She was my childhood companion, & most of her life I had believed in a hereafter for animals. So I had developed an extremely deep fondness for the only one in my home that showed me affection. IThe thought of her death still brings tears); to my eyes. Yet, I know she had a good life. I've also since learned not to get so attached, not to animals--But I still enjoy them! (:
http://watchtower.org/library/g/2004/2/22a/article_02.htm
2007-04-21 00:16:26 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I run hot and cold on this issue. My sister-in-law put down an old family springer spaniel because it accidentally piddled on her ratty old carpet. Everyone in our extended family thought she'd committed murder and my wife still hasn't forgiven her. On the other hand, we had an old cat that was slowly dying of feline peritonitis. The vet said it would take a week or ten days of agony for her to die naturally. We had her euthanized and wept for days. It is too easy to make the "problem" quickly go away by resorting to the needle. One must be extremely careful to examine their own motives and be absolutely certain they are acting in the pet's best interests. I loved that old cat, so I did a thought experiment and imagined myself as the cat. I asked myself, given the amount of pain and suffering, would I want to be euthanized? The answer was yes.
2007-04-18 20:01:49 · answer #3 · answered by Diogenes 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. Euthanizing my dog was the most humane thing we could do for him.
My oldest dog, Chester, died a few weeks ago. He was chronically arthritic, blind in one eye, deaf, had awful bacteria in his mouth that caused him to grow an abscess that probably gave him excruciating pain; and 2 days before we put him to sleep, he was limping on one leg.
He was also 17 years old.
It's a difficult process to watch... I, for one, don't like killing innocent life.
...but my need to reduce suffering trumps that. My dog led a good life, and I did not mourn his death... I celebrate the life that he has given me. He truly deserved the title "man's best friend"... he never bit ANYONE, and the neighborhood loved him (he'd sneak out of the backyard and take his own walks).
He's now in my kitchen in a wooden box, but it's better than in my kitchen lying on the floor having difficulty breathing.
2007-04-18 19:48:07 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
No. I've recently had to do this for my 20-year-old cat. He had a host of problems that weren't going to get better. He had stopped eating and was suffering every day. He's not suffering any more. The vet agreed that it was time. I don't feel I did anything wrong.
2007-04-18 19:49:21 · answer #5 · answered by milomax 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Nope, it's not wrong at all. I think it's humane to not allow the animal to suffer. It's too bad we will extend this courtesy of non-suffering to our pets, but seem to think it's okay to make humans with terminal illness suffer.
2007-04-18 19:49:26 · answer #6 · answered by swordarkeereon 6 · 2⤊ 0⤋
To let an animal suffer if he is sick is cruel. Put it down and hold his paw untill the end since he is a friend and deserves your love and respect.
2007-04-18 19:43:26 · answer #7 · answered by FateDancer 2 · 5⤊ 0⤋
I don't think so. When my pets get old, I put them to sleep. I'd rather do that then watch them suffer in their last days....
2007-04-18 19:45:02 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
No, it is not wrong to put animals to sleep.
2007-04-18 19:43:55 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 4⤊ 0⤋
No, its not wrong....just like I believe in Euthanasia for humans...We put to sleep that animal that is in pain, but not humans...it doesn't make sence to me.
2007-04-18 19:41:57 · answer #10 · answered by Kerilyn 7 · 3⤊ 1⤋