The Dilemma Over the Issue of Euthanasia for Pets

Introduction

At an open-admission shelter, a healthy dog is surrendered because its owners found that they could not deal with its behavior. The shelter is already a small bit above the capacity it has, so it sends some of its less adoptable animals into a backroom in temporary cages to be able to take in the new dog. As the week goes by, the shelter takes in more animals and adopts some out. Those adopted animals have a chance of being returned to the same shelter due to the owners being unable to have the animal they wanted. The shelter has no choice but to get rid of the excess animals in some other way besides adoption. Most often, the shelter has to put down the animals they cannot adopt out. These animals that are killed due to lack of shelter space are barred from meeting potential owners. These owners that could have these pets will now never get to see them because they either don’t look for shelter animals, learn that the shelter itself is a kill shelter due to how many pets they have to take in on a daily basis and decide they do not want to deal with their business, or they do go to shelters expecting to find an already trained animal or one that has specific traits that they want. Because of this, the dog that came in earlier that week was never so much as considered as a pet by potential adopters. Eventually, this dog is also moved to a temporary kennel. After a few more animals come in, the dog is eventually killed. This scenario happens every day in shelters across the world, even in “no-kill” shelters.

In the United States alone, more than 6 million pets are put into shelters annually. The dog-to-cat ratio of shelter animals is near 50/50, with the number of shelter animals decreasing from the previous 7 million animals 9 years ago. Out of these shelter animals, one-sixth of them are put down This number has gone down due to higher adoption rates and the returning of stray animals to their homes. Additionally, half of the animals admitted to shelters are adopted out. When pet owners take their pet to the vet, whether they had it for years or a few weeks, just going for a regular checkup or emergency, there is always the possibility of some condition or injury being found that will greatly reduce the pet's quality of life. While it may have been known of before the visit, or a new find, it raises the question of when the best time to end that pet's life is. The decision of when and by what means is often seen as flexible, but many places have restrictions that deny a pet owners what they think would be a good end for their pet. Unfortunately, some companion animals are not able to have some choices made for them. These animals are left to have their end-of-life choices made by people who are not directly involved in their lives, and more often than not are put down when they have a longer, healthier life possible for them if not for the overpopulation of their temporary homes. Because of all these animals unable to live better lives and some owners being unable to make better choices about euthanasia, governments need to give more attention to the issue and make better laws and restrictions revolving around it.

Questions about euthanasia for animals

Euthanasia refers to “mercy killing” in humans but is broadly defined in terms of non-human medicine. The need for animal euthanasia is based on three factors. An animal is put down for reasons of its death being a better alternative to illness/injury, the best alternative to death is unclear, or at the owner's request such as convenience, in the case of a donor for research. While some animals are unstressed by medical environments, stress still affects them when surroundings are unfamiliar, as in the case with euthanasia rooms. Being in this unrecognized environment causes unnecessary stress for the animal, and they may try to fight the procedure. This makes the euthanasia procedure as a whole less humane, and the common issue of it being rushed also contributes to the tension an animal experiences. To combat this, introducing animals to the euthanasia room at times before they are being put down familiarizes the room and reduces tension related to being in unknown surroundings. In addition, taking time on the procedure and having an additional person in the room there for the comfort of the animal minimizes stress. Animals have an idea as to what death is and are observed in nature following rituals or acting on behaviors similar to humans regarding death, such as corvidae, elephants, and chimps. Corivdae partakes in funerals, in which all members of the flock gather around the body in trees and other perching areas. More birds gather around, with the whole group cawing at both the corpse and any bystanders. Elephants grieve the passing of any carcass or skeleton by observing the body, touching and picking up any bones present. At times, the body is covered with leaves and grass. If the elephant was a part of the herd, the herd stays around the body for days or weeks at a time. Chimps are seen to be cleaning the corpses of dead family members, with mothers sometimes carrying the corpses of their children for days on end.

Euthanasia is an ethical choice made by both veterinarians and guardians, with advancements in technology and medicine allowing for a better course of action or better choice for the well-being of the pet. Currently, six methods are used to euthanize an animal, including intravenous, intracardiac, or intraperitoneal injection, gas, cervical dislocation, and shooting. Intravenous injection is the most common and humane method, as drugs injected through the blood vessels spread through the body that way. Intracardiac and intraperitoneal injections are less common and more often than not have laws against using it on conscious animals due to the possible pain it causes. Intracardial is the injection of anesthetics directly to the heart. Intraperitoneal is the injection of drugs through the abdominal cavity, sending it directly to the organs in the cavity. Gas euthanasia is another common method, though outlawed due to some conditions regarding the devices used to be inhumane. Animals are commonly put under using either isoflurane or sevoflurane before carbon dioxide suffocates the unconscious animal. Because it is shown that this method still causes suffering, guidelines have been put in place to ensure the animal is humanely killed. In some cases, carbon monoxide is used but is the main reason gas euthanasia is less common than other methods. Nitrogen has been shown to be effective, but some animals resist it. Cervical dislocation is an older method of euthanasia but has become obsolete due to both its inhumanity and the availability of more efficient methods. In cases of large animals or during emergencies, either a bullet is shot through the part of the brain responsible for reflex and organ functions, or a bolt gun stuns or kills the animal, in which stunning requires additional steps for the animal to be killed humanely.

Euthanasia emotionally affects both veterinarians and pet owners. In most cases, the reason for euthanasia is for the well-being of the animal, in which case the emotional attachment to the animal is a large factor in the grief of losing the pet. In cases of euthanasia out of convenience, such as shelter overpopulation, the caretakers of such animals also develop an emotional attachment. This emotional attachment and euthanasia are a major role in the reasoning for workers quitting their jobs as animal caretakers. The amount of time spent by research teams in the company of animal test subjects affects the human-animal relationship between the caretaker and animal. While this mainly applies to caregivers in research teams, it can also apply to other parts of the research team as well. This bond also affects the well-being of the animal in a laboratory environment. Pet owners are more concerned about the well-being of the pet over their own convenience, seeing the pet as equally valuable as their own family member. Considering the yearly cost of pet healthcare and their average life expectancy, the total cost over a pet's lifetime for veterinarian costs is around 23,307 dollars. Compared to the yearly cost of 4,358 dollars a year for individual insurance, adding up to 74,086 over the course of the pet's life, people spend 31% of the cost of their own healthcare on their pets. Euthanasia is a less desirable choice due to this, compared to 60 years ago.

Animal mills play a major role in the overpopulation of shelters, as they are run solely to sell live animal into the pet trade. When these animals are not purchased, they are either sent to shelters or euthanized. This overpopulation caused by mills is controllable by regulating breeders and putting funding into shutting down mills where animals are mistreated. In order to regulate the animal population, the Animal Welfare Act was passed in order to set regulations on how people may breed and sell animals for profit. These restrictions include licenses for dealers, the USDA Secretary sets standards of acquiring licenses. The standards that need to be met when keeping animals for breeding include meeting the minimum requirements for handling, feeding and watering, cleanliness, and exercise. To ensure that requirements are met, the Secretary may call for an examination through APHIS, which is also in charge of license provision. Due to the loose definition of pet shops in the act, there is confusion as to where it applies. The loose definition allows for temporary conventions to sell pets, but the individual sellers of the animals would need a permit unless said conventions are held by exclusive membership-only gatherings. This loophole, despite the act defining pet shops, causes a varying reactions of officials. Some from one area will require vendors or organizations to have a license, while others will not require it due to multiple sellers. This raises the issue of the legality of the conventions because, unlike pet markets considered one entity, these conventions are, in technicality, prohibited under the act for the same reason officials will not require licenses. While the act vaguely covers conventions, it is specific about breeders selling pets, as the only groups excluded from the rule are pedigree breeders or individuals who only sell the animals with no direct goal of the animal becoming a pet. The laws that the act applies to animals include all vertebrates. While not explicitly describing the definition of pet, it requires pet shops to have a license to be able to sell animals for the purpose of being anything other than animals used for food, labor, or profit.

Most states have laws concerning euthanasia, with most covering the three areas of who may perform it, what is used to do it, and exceptions for emergencies. Most of the states with euthanasia laws have restrictions limiting euthanasia procedures to licensed veterinarians, euthanasia technicians, and supervised shelter employees, or require training or a course before being certified to perform euthanasia. The most often-used method of euthanasia is the use of injected sodium pentobarbital. If that method is not available, other drugs may be used or, in case of emergencies, gunshot. Some states even use gas chambers, which are phasing out with the means that it is inhumane. Due to the possibility of a prolonged or painful death, there is a push to move on to more humane methods of euthanasia. These inhumane techniques involve gas chambers, injection of euthanasia agents via methods other than though the blood, poisoning with household chemicals, drowning, hypothermia, and electric shock. States with human euthanasia laws refer to humane techniques as the ones recognized by the AVMA, such as sodium pentobarbital injection through the veins. Other states strictly prohibit any inhumane methods, such as neuromuscular blocking agents. Some states have laws against using gunshots unless in particular scenarios. In the case of emergency euthanasia, most states will allow for the killing of an animal via gunshot under the circumstance that the safety of another person or animal is in jeopardy, the animal itself is suffering and is in too much pain to move, has a serious incurable illness, or unsolicited attack. Personnel involved in the euthanasia of an animal are most often required to be either trained, law enforcement, veterinarian, or animal control. Due to the restrictions, some states have in place regarding euthanasia, the increasingly popular act of performing euthanasia at home is not allowed. These regulations most often involve issues regarding the proper permissions and environment for putting the animal down. Homes do not typically meet these required standards, so while it is preferred by the people in most cases, the law prevents them from having at-home euthanasia.

Adoption is the only alternative to euthanasia once an animal gets to a shelter. If the animal is kept too long, it has to be euthanized by its caretakers or vets to prevent overpopulation in the facility. Therefore, higher adoption rates would significantly decrease the rate of euthanasia in shelters. To increase this rate, facilities can be in a transfer program that exchanges animals to have more of what would be preferred in that area and send less desirable animals to locations with a higher demand for them. This, combined with TNR programs and regulating pet shops and mills, would reduce the shelter population in such a way that euthanasia would become a far less common practice in dealing with the overpopulation of facilities. Spaying or neutering an animal limits overpopulation in shelters by preventing the reproduction of the animal. This decrease in overpopulation decreases the need to euthanize otherwise healthy animals. While owners have to give permission for their pet to be vasectomized, stray animals have no guardian to permit such procedure, and are left to be able to reproduce and increasing overpopulation, therefore raising the rate of animals put down. This is where the introduction of trap-neuter-release programs come into play. TNR systems perform the sterilization procedure on stray animals without having to gain any authorization. These programs also help encourage adoption, producing a greater effect of higher shelter capacity and allowing for far less euthanasia than areas without TNR systems.

Conclusion

Due to ethical standpoints on euthanasia, veterinarians are left to be the judge of whether the procedure is necessary to the well-being of the animal. Because of this, all laws based on animal ethics should be based on a certain amount of veterinary science backing them. For example, instead of euthanizing an otherwise healthy animal due to the owner being unable to afford proper care, they should have the option to give up the animal to an adoption or foster system. The restrictions of personnel performing euthanasia should be kept relatively the same, with less strict regulations in some states. Laws should be made to restrict breeding to encourage adoption from shelters and foster homes in order to reduce the need of euthanasia due to overpopulation. There should be more programs set out to spay and neuter animals to reduce population growth. Laws should be made to restrict euthanasia only to animals that are suffering or have an aggression issue that cannot be corrected through training or therapy. Euthanasia, along with general animal care, should be made cheaper, as the costs of care could be out of an owner's budget and discourage them from getting the care an animal needs. When an animal's care is put on delay due to cost concerns, the condition may worsen and cause the animal's life to be shortened or cause the need for euthanasia. Other than euthanizing strays, the problem of overpopulation/lack of shelter space is solved by spaying/neutering the stray animal, then returning them to their place of origin. This prevents the necessity of putting down the animal due to the inability to adopt them out or shelter overflow, while simultaneously cutting back on the issue of overpopulation. The rate of overpopulation and euthanasia in cats and dogs has decreased over the last two decades in Michigan. This could be a result of the mentioned smaller/privately owned shelters or a different attitude towards owning or putting down a pet. More pets are adopted out, which in turn allows for less need to euthanize. This change in euthanasia rates directly corresponds to this increase in adoption, which may in turn be as a result in the change of attitude concerning owning a pet.