nelrod

I am an anesthetist and have done it both ways, with a large animal I think it is more human with a large caliber to brain. No needle stick invoved, and works quick and works every time. If gun involved, I let animal get comfortable and pet it awhile, then put towel over its head. Nothing barbaric about putting your pet out of its misery with a gun or a drug, gun is just quicker and easier. I understand though if someone doesn't want to do their own, they are so loyal to us and you just hate to do it.

halfpint23

The vet bills aren't the half of it! There's such a thing as quality of life, too. Putting extraordinary lifesaving efforts into an animal who is old, and crippled up to begin with - well, if they were suffering to begin with - eyesight, hearing, arthritis - compound that by injury or a stroke, say, and how much worse will it be - they can't even keep up with you walking across the yard?

I know pets are maybe closer as emotional companions for most people, but In my lifetime I've found the horses the toughest to deal with, as there is NOTHING as tragic to me as a horse who can't get up again. We put near five grand in vet into a baby filly this spring, who was injured (hip, the vet thought) and then got very, VERY ill on top of it. She is from valuable lines, but if we had thought she would have been three-legged, there's no way we would put a young horse through that life. After a couple of months of literally fighting for her life, she pulled out of the dive and came back to us - and is now healthy, strong and (best of all!) completely sound.

Now, as it turned out, the vet was WRONG - the injury was a muscle tear, and the illness was not a bone infection - it was her little innards, a massive intestinal infection. I put her on my Metis hubby's grandma's rx, herbal antibiotics! in addition to the powerful modern drugs. After she shed out her wasted gut linings like sausage casings, she finally started coming back. She is our miracle filly. Most babies would have given up, but she never did - a little warhorse, just like her mama.

I think that some of the revulsion that some people feel toward the merciful killing of an animal in our care is that they have not grown up with livestock in an agricultural background - no clue that "stuff happens" and how tough it can be ON THE ANIMAL. Responsibility to your stock includes not making them suffer longer so you can feel better about how they go out of this life.

Hoss

Well said.

As I stated earlier, the reason my wife and I DO disagree on this subject is because I DO come from an agricultural background. She comes from the big city.

GhettoVaquero

i am not from an ag back ground but i have had a dog die in my arms before and it is not a memory i want. i guess i am a sissy but i would rather have the vet do it than me, especially when the option is against a gun.

halfpint23

Getting a needle into a vein on an animal that's already scared past reason (not understanding WHAT is happening) and thrashing around in fear and pain is not a fun thing to do...... having an emotionally detached funny-smelling stranger try to get the needle into the dog's vein (usually they try for the vein in the forearm) can be a whole 'nother traumatic experience. I can IV a horse but not usually on the first try (and neither can a lot of vets). I would not even consider trying to pick up a tiny vein in a 30 pound dog's leg.

Oh yeah, and why is a gun intrinsically worse than lethal injection? rhetorical question.....

Our vet came by today and apologized profusely for not responding to our call instantly - she was busy saving a horse's life for someone else. She's on the county sheriff's list and routinely gets called out for vehicle-vs-animal hits... recently someone nailed a big female black bear out our way, and they called her to put the bear down - she got there and was mortified to find she'd left her big-bore revolver at home!! She said she was mighty relieved to find the bear had already expired, and she didn't have to try to put it down another way

Jeff in TD

Sorry to hear of the loss of your dog. The right thing to do is not often easy.

As far as it being difficult for a vet to hit a vein, I agree. My vet will give a muscular shot of the painkiller/sleep stuff they use for surgery first, and then shave and hit the vein to euthinize. If you have to have a vet put one down, you might ask him/her to do the same thing. To me, the couple extra bucks is worth it.

I was surprised to hear your vet gets called out to euthinize dying wild animals. Here, that usually gets handled with the service pistol, or the shotgun.

Dieseldude4x4

I did stick around to the end when I had the one below put to sleep and it was very quick. If you have a vet doctor that puts one to sleep and it lays there and kicks and struggles, you need to find a new doctor and run from that quack. I told her good by and had my hands on her the whole time. The doctor put the needle in and before half of the syringe was in my babies leg, her heart stopped and that was the end. It was instant, no gasping, struggling, or nothing. And yes it was very hard to do and still makes me sad. My vet doctor said most people bring them, drop them off, and run. I said there was no way I was doing that with my baby. You and Alpine Ram need to find another doctor.

dieselbeef

ive done it both ways...


lookin em in the eyes either way as the light fades away doesnt make either one any easier than the other


my 12 yr old retriever id dyin of cancerous tumors right now and i am fightin this battle within me as we speak....

very tuff call for me. i will ask god and my wife for help

it will be a very sad day either way and i will be full of sorrow and regret as i dig that hole for her

Dieseldude4x4

My last Rottie, not the one above, died in my arms and it was not a good day either. People say they are just dumb animals. That just goes to show me what they think of animals and most likely people as well.

halfpint23

No, sorry, I wasn't clear there - when a HORSE goes down, it's rarely easy... especially if it's a painful injury or a severe colic, you can't just cuddle them hard against you to hold them still. Intramuscular anesthetic shots take a long time on a big animal - you HAVE to get the vein, and when that head keeps whipping up and the legs are flailing, well, it's plumb dangerous to try getting the needle in. Usually takes several very experienced people to get it done.

Your dog was beautiful, I'm so sorry you had to lose her and so glad you took her to the very end.

Oh, and I live out here in sue-happy lefty-land, where all the yuppies are HORRIFIED that someone would use an Evil Gun to put any animal out of its misery - the cops have to tread real careful, it's some sort of policy on their part - very rarely will you hear of an officer putting an animal down with their service sidearm. Even if you ASK them to, most will not - too much department liability. A few (heck, SEVERAL) years ago, a horse fell into a sinkhole in a local state park - old mineshaft ran under the trail he was going down - and was badly injured. Responding officers refused to shoot it for the frantic owner - she had to wait most of the afternoon for a vet to get out there to put her horse down, and THEN had to get heavy equipment out to get him out of the hole. Poor gal really went through h**l in that one. Of course it's *quite* illegal to carry your sidearm in a Park

With the wild animals, I think there may be a factor of possible disease that gets a licensed vet involved, too. Don't know all of that, but our lady vet does get a lot of wildlife calls from the county cops.

csuengr

This is definately a decision that I don't envy. I may be a big "softy" when it comes to my dogs but I don't think I could take this responsibility into my own hands. That said last year when i had my dog put to sleep, the procedure and burial cost me about $275. Sorry i couldn't offer more guidance. Good Luck!

Dieseldude4x4

Now I agree if you're talking a 1200 pound animal like a horse, cow, or whatever. You just can't scoop them up and run to the office. Wild animals are a different case also. But a small family animal like a dog or cat like that I do not believe should be shot in my personal opinion. There may be circumstances that call for it where it is warranted. But a family pet like the one I mentioned should be put down properly in my opinion. I even paid extra for private cremation for both of my Rotties and will more than likely do the same for the three I have now when it comes time (and I dread that day).

And thank you for the thought on my dog. She had 25 ribbons by the time she was 2 years old. She was more than a pet. She listened to a lot I had to say and never questioned any of it, just tried to understand and be there for me.

And thank your soldier for all he/she is doing too.

SIXSLUG

Put 'er down by injection if it's available, for the animals sake. I'm known as rather gruff and hardened but I could never shoot my dog unless he was seriously hurt and suffering and very far from a vet. I'd be afraid of poor bullet placement and causing any pain or undue suffering which would forever haunt me as being his last memory of me. I am the same way when hunting, I can cleanly kill game and not think anything about it, but when I wound one and prolong its death I am affected by it to no end. JMHO. Kurt

Dieseldude4x4

I agree there 100%.