Is it Ethical to Euthanize a Healthy Pet?

Published February 7, 2012

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Is it ethical to euthanize healthy pets?

Many committed pet owners are concerned that should they become incapable of caring for their pet due to illness, or in the eventuality of their death, there would be no one available to care for their pets in the proper manner that they deserve. Without a trusted friend or family member willing and ready to take on this responsibility, committed owners could fear that their pet will be abandoned or end up in a shelter.

Given this frightening situation, some pet owners will ask their veterinarian to euthanize their pet if a suitable home is not found within a specified period of time. But is this plan to end their beloved pet’s life really fair to the animal, or is it just the owners’ selfish means of dealing with their concern about their pet’s future?

In Ariel Kaminer’s recent column "A Dog's Right to Life”, appearing in the online New York Times Magazine, Kaminer explores this very dilemma. After consulting with animal liberation advocate Peter Singer, she arrived at the conclusion that, though it may seem at first like those pet owners who make the request to euthanize their pet are condemning their pets to the most "capricious of death sentences”, the owner's actions, in actuality, reflect the most human of fears, as they are just "trying, however misguidedly, to get their affairs in order."

Since finding suitable homes for elderly or aggressive pets can be extremely difficult, some veterinarians feel humane euthanasia requested by the owner is the kindest way to assure their pet will not be surrendered to a shelter–where euthanasia is a likely prospect anyway.

On the other hand, Kaminer offers those veterinarians who are ethically uncomfortable with requests for unnecessary and untimely euthanasia the advice to simply guarantee that the pet will be adopted into a loving home.

But is Kaminer’s advice more ethical than humane euthanasia? Is it fair to simply give the owner peace of mind by promising that the pet will find a loving home, even if that prospect cannot be guaranteed?

Without a doubt it is difficult to think about our own mortality. Yet, when coupled with concerns of who will take care of our beloved pets when we no longer can, it can become unbearable.

Considering these circumstances, do you think it is ethical to euthanize a healthy pet? Share your thoughts in a comment.

Jo Singer

Shortly after retiring as a social worker and psychotherapist, I discovered my "writer's voice"…

Filed Under: News & Blogs, Trouble Sniffer
Tags: Cats, Dogs, euthanasia, euthanization, euthanizing animals

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Comments (28)

Jess (Unverified)

Added 04-08-2013 10:18pm

"we had to you left us no choice" Don't blame the dog, there are no bad dogs, only bad owners .

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Anonymous89 (Unverified)

Added 07-20-2012 01:19am

I have a 13 year old chocolate lab who is the sweetest thing you could ever meet. She was a rescue from my uncle who neglected her. When I got her seven years ago, she was 40 pounds overweight. When I moved in with my husband, I trusted some friends to watch and care for her. I paid them 100 a month for food and sent them flea medication every other month. I paid a surprise vist only to find that my poor baby was tied up outside with FILTHY water, covered in fleas whereas their dogs had none and I was FURIOUS! I took her without knocking on their door and drove off. They never even called me to say that she was missing! The poor thing now has arthritis and is sowing signs of going blind. She was in a great deal of pain and we saw it. We also have a big move coming up and we are worried she won't adjust well. Add that to the fact that we can't find a place willing to let us keep her within our price range, we took her in and the vet refused us on the spot and called us murderers. Saying that we would rather see her dead than to see her get adopted. This wasn't the case at all. We didn't want her to feel abandoned and ultimately die of heartbreak all alone in a cage. What she would no-doubt see as her prison. My point being this: you just can't win. If you try to do what you think is right and put them down, your vet calls you a murderer, if you try to put her in a shelter, you're abandoning her.. It's really not fair that our vet did that to us. We even told her that we aren't able to let her live comfortably anymore. So what else is there left for us to do with our baby?

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Anonymous (Unverified)

Added 01-15-2013 08:26pm

You shouldn't have left your dog with those pigs. You only have you to blame. You call her your baby but would you put a human baby down like that? Get over yourself and do the right thing.

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Cherry (Unverified)

Added 06-25-2012 07:06pm

To euthanize a healthy animal is akin to shooting a healthy lion or slaughtering a healthy pig. It's WRONG. On the other hand, if it's okay to kill animals for any convenient reason, then why not allow people to euthanize a naughty child or a screaming baby? We need to control the human population--so let's apply the same ethics to people as we do to animals. Otherwise, we're all hypocrites.

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Anonymous (Unverified)

Added 09-06-2012 08:15am

Let me tell YOU something: I have three elderly cats I have worshipped for eighteen years. TRY FINDING A HOME FOR AN OLD CAT. Two of the cats have underlying health concerns. NO ONE WANTS MY CATS. I no longer have a home of any kind myself and can no longer give my cats a stable environment. They have gone from one garage to another garage and now into a dirty old horse barn infested with mosquitos and limited contact from me. I am willing to take on the broken heart in order to save them from any more trauma, moving around, being forced to adjust yet again to another environment, and in general being miserable because NO ONE WANTS TO GIVE A HOME TO AN OLD CAT. Would YOU take my three old cats - a mother, son, and daughter who have never been separated in their entire lives? Today I am euthanizing all three of them, mercifully, and then driving them up into the country with a dear friend to bury them together in peace. I suggest you walk in the shoes of people like me before you pronounce your inexperienced, unasked-for judgement.

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Anonymous (Unverified)

Added 04-16-2012 09:04am

I work for a vet who just euthanized a perfectly healthy parrot because the owners were moving and could take the bird with them. I offered to take the bird but the owner couldn't deal with the thought of someone else having her bird. I wonder what the bird would have wanted. I'm seriously thinking about leaving this practice who agrees to kill healthy pets.

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Anonymous (Unverified)

Added 03-25-2012 12:20am

My bull terrier was 17 when he died, my cocker spaniel was the same. I'm a responsible dog owner. A dachshund got dumped on me 3yrs ago. He never stops barking. He should be put down. I know I won't do it, but he is absolutely ruining my life.