Dog Euthanasia: Pros and Cons Essay

Dogs share the same environment as humans and play an important role in their ecological adjustment therefore my dilemma is going to discuss how a medic decided to put an animal down without the owner’s consideration. The ethical dilemma here is that the dog is a meaningful being for the owners but according to the doctor the animal couldn’t survive, and the owners wanted to take him home without considering the pain and suffering this one would have in their house. In general, euthanasia of dogs is banned except in special justified cases such as seriously or incurably ill or proven to be dangerous dogs, in these cases the doctor took the decision on his own.

A doctor is operating on a sick dying dog; by the middle of his procedure, it is clear that the dog won’t survive the surgery due to its illness. He tries his best to explain to the owners that the longer he is alive the more she is suffering. The couple understands the situation but isn’t ready to give up their pet just yet and insists on doing more procedures to try to save it. From his medical experience, he knows that more procedures will cause more pain to the dog and excruciating death in the end. The doctor decides under his own power that he should put down the dog without letting the owners know first. Was it ethical for the doctor to take the dog’s life to end its suffering simply because he has the final call? Or, should he have waited for the owner’s permission?

Authorization to put down the animal should have been made by the owner and not the physician because it is the owners’ pet, the owners could create a more comfortable environment for the dog, and the dog would go easier knowing that her family is by her side to the end.“These are thoughts that the physician should have considered before making the final decision. He doesn’t know what type of emotional damage he could have caused not only to the owner but to the pet as well”.

Would the doctor be right in providing information that can show why his reasoning was the best to insurance no suffering to the animal, even though he did something irresponsible for not letting the owners take that decision, he took a good choice by letting this poor animal rest, instead of following the owner's petitions on doing way more procedures. He decided that it was the right time and he couldn’t. make that animal experience more pain, he also made sure that the animal had a nice way to die.

In this case, I think the owner should be the one taking this choice because it is his/hers pet and loved one, the doctor may have good reasons for his actions but those cannot be justified because it wasn’t his choice. He did grant less pain to the animal but not to the owners. Here are three reasons why the owner should always take the decision of putting down his/her dog.

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Firstly, the physician may not understand the emotional bond between the animal and the owner because it is not his pet. He should allow the owner to make the final decision of how and when the animal goes. In February of 2017, Iran J Public Health posted an article stating “Does a pet, in addition to the right to live, have a right to die? More specifically, does it have the right to a dignified death?”. This is important because it is supporting the idea that every person or every being has the right to not only live but die on their own terms, including care ethics that should be a foundation for ethical decision-making. In the case of an animal, the owner takes up those rights, because they are the ones that have raised, fed, and taken care of this animal due that animals have the intelligence of a small child, I believe that we can only respect our duty to promote the highest good on if we believe the immortality of the soul and the existence of God, this explaining what duty ethics mean and that is important to have present in moments like this one, in which you have to take a decision. Some may rebuttal this point because they feel as if the doctors’ medical experience outweighs the owners’ right to choose, but how can a doctor make that decision independently when the owner is the one that brought the animal seeking help? Wouldn’t it be easier to include the owners in the process for the better of the animal's final moments? Is really easy to judge the doctor’s position but he was seeking the highest good for this animal. We know that the owners were seeking happiness, but it doesn’t mean this particular decision to put down their own loved pet would grant the most amount of happiness for them.

Secondly, the owners could create a more comfortable environment for the dog. They might even include a friendship companion for the animal in its final moments. In 2017, Christine Overall posted “The ethics of our relationships with companion animals” or more specifically “relationship of loving interaction that cherishes the animals for the wonderful individuals they are” is a genuine alternative to the utilization approach that avoids its failures. “The view that an action is morally right if the consequences of that action are more favorable than unfavorable when we are in such relationship, the care that one shows for their companion dog does not need to be mediated by a utility framework”. This is important because it shows that the emotional attachment to animals is greater than the knowledge a doctor can have; which in this case, shows that he needed to communicate to the owners what was the next step, take into consideration their own way to do it, and respect it. “Euthanasia is best performed within a strong client-veterinary relationship, this is, not to be done by a referred veterinarian, unless there is an emergency case”. This explains why is hard for the owner to give the order because is hard for them to truly know what they wish for, this decision must be taken by a person that knows the family and the pet for a long time which can make it easy for them to take a decision. However, I believe that the specialist deciding euthanasia in many cases is extremely difficult because the owner can have a lot of reasons why they don’t want to put them down, they don’t consider the pain in which these animals are. “A veterinarian that proposes such a procedure can provide that the specialist has stayed in good communication with the referring clinician. Medical experience cannot be compared with emotional attachment, natural caring is a moral attitude, that happens because of an experience or memory of being cared for in this case all the memories they have with their dog”. Some might be against this point because emotion can change the decisions the owners can take, in this case, the owners want to take the dog home and let it suffer, but at the same time, they just want to share that last moment. This explains the doctor's point of view but also voids the point of the owners. A lot of this argument has been made from the viewpoint of the owner; but what about the viewpoint of the animal? Or doctors?

Lastly, the animal would go easier if one of the family members is present; they feel calm, and helps them to relax. In May 2011 the Journal of Medical Ethics posted that “the only difference between veterinary surgeons and the general public was how the respect for autonomy and the minimize suffering; arguments were prioritized, the general public tended to stress the respect of autonomy argument and veterinary surgeons the minimize suffering argument”. This is important because it is stating how the experience does not and should not outweigh the wishes of the owner and the suffering animal. Is hard for the doctors to explain their reasoning and why this was in the best interest of the animal is very difficult to assess a patient’s quality of life even harder when the owners of the pet have to make the decision over his/her life. “In veterinary medicine, the veterinarian is qualified to decide, quite accurately, if the animal is suffering unbearably and hopelessly, and if life quality is unlikely to improve, whereas the owners, as they know their pet so well, can be seen by the observation of changes in the animal's behavior if the animal is suffering”. Although the doctor’s expertise and abilities may justify him making the decision, it might not be the best choice for the animal or the owner; Happiness is something we do not fully understand. The dog might accept its fate and come to peace knowing that before her final moments, she was surrounded by those who loved her in her better days. Studies said that a dog can be really stressed if they can’t see where their family member are, that is why I think the doctor should never take the decision to put euthanasia on an animal without letting the owners know, I also think as owners the right thing to do is to put an end to the animal's pain, even if that means losing a beloved one. It isn’t ethical to leave a living creature to suffer even if you have to live with the pain after losing them.

In conclusion, I think that the authorization to put down the animal should have been made by the owner and not the physician because it is the owner’s pet, the owners could create a more comfortable environment for the dog, and the dog would go easier knowing that her family is by her side to the end. Ideally, veterinarians and pet owners should agree on the decision. If they do not, two possible ethical dilemmas rise, as the obligation of the veterinarian to act for the benefit of his patients conflicts with the right of the owner to decide on his or her pet. On the one hand, the veterinarian feels euthanasia is the right course of action and the owner does not, on the other hand, the veterinarian feels the request of euthanasia of an owner is not justified. In this case, the patient owner should talk to the specialist to make sure what is best for the animal and what needs to be done, this may help the owner to take any action. This could be a case of an ethical dilemma because neither the physician nor the owners are right or wrong in the matter; It is more so a matter of moral and personal value. If the owner chooses to be present, can be very emotional while observing the procedure, this must be taken into account when deciding which method to use, and the veterinarian will benefit if he explains what is being administered to the pet and when the animal will respond. “Decision-making process must take into account and balance factors such as the age of the animal, possible treatments, degree of injuries or disease, quality of life and welfare of the animal”.

Personally, as a pet owner, I would have wanted those last moments with my pet to give it a sense of closure, also making my dog's last moment as painless and peaceful as possible. What would you have wanted? In my opinion, euthanasia is an ethical problem in either what is wrong or right but when it comes to pet owners the decision a devoted pet owner faces when deciding whether to euthanize a beloved pet can be such a decision. “If you do euthanize, then the suffering ends but you effectively end the life of a dependent of yours who has the mental capacity of a small child and is therefore incapable of giving competent consent.” In the end, euthanasia represents a major problem because it causes issues around the universal laws that we as humans have. “Ideally, companion animal owners should maintain a good relationship with their general veterinary practitioner, who has often known the animal all of its life and can serve as a partner in dialogue during the trying times when euthanasia emerges as a possible alternative to suffering”. This explains the ethical dilemma represented in these cases is in which the values of the animal are being considered in a better way, which is hard because both owners and doctors have different points of view, this can create an ethical issue because either of them is wrong or right but this dilemma shows how important is to give or provide happiness in some type of way. The doctor’s decision may just be affected by where his happiness stands and how much he cares about that living creature.