Why PETA Euthanizes
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  • Home
  • About
  • The Center for Consumer Freedom
    • How the Center for Consumer Freedom Disseminated the "PETA Kills Animals" Campaign >
      • PETA's Official Statement About the "PETA Kills Animals" Hoax
  • The Curious Case of Nathan Winograd
    • PETA's Civil Conspiracy Complaint
    • Nathan Winograd: The Facts
    • A Closer Look at Nathan Winograd's, "Shocking Photos: PETA's Secret Slaughter of Kittens, Puppies"
    • VDACS Custody Record Form
    • Nathan Winograd's Cease and Desist from PETA
    • No Kill Advocacy Center Petition for Rulemaking
    • PETA's VDACS Animal Facility Inspection Reports
    • "No-Kill" Shelter Admission Policies
    • The Curious Case of "OpPeta"
    • The Curious Case of Heather Harper-Troje
  • Understanding PETA's Shelter
    • Maya
    • PETA's Official Statment About the Zerate Lawsuit Settlement
    • Shelter Inspections PDF
    • The Scoop on PETA's 2010 VDACS "Site Visit" Report
    • SB 1381
  • The North Carolina Incident
    • PETA's 2000 Bertie County Action Alert PDF and Link
    • PETA's Official Statement About the North Carolina Incident
  • Popular Misconceptions
    • The Center for Consumer Freedom Press Release Email
    • PETA's Previous IRS 990's
    • Forever Fantasy
  • VDACS Animal Reporting Records Demystified
  • How PETA Saves Animals

February 19th, 2013

2/19/2013

1 Comment

 
Probably the thing that bothers me the most is folks clinging to the misguided belief that the five or so people a day who seek out PeTA's 24 hour a day companion animal euthanasia services aren't acting in their loved ones' bests interests. 

I say this a lot, but we're not talking about hypothetical animals here. We're talking about actual animals with actual guardians who've reached out to PeTA on what was likely a very bad day. From the outside, it's easy to assume that these people rushed to judgement or were indifferent to their animals altogether, but I do not believe that these animal guardians, or the PeTA staff taking the call, take the matter of euthanasia lightly. 

No one will ever convince me that the citizens of the greater Norfolk area are contacting PeTA's emergency hotline at all hours of the night to end the lives of animals they meant to take to a shelter because whatever life circumstance interfered with their commitment to them, or they just couldn't suffer their companionship until morning, or Monday, or after the holiday, or whenever the shelter opened. 

From the outside, it's easy to ignore the relationships between these animals and their guardians, because we haven't had the pleasure of knowing them personally. We are not privy to the promises made at the onset of terminal illnesses or made after lifetimes of faithful companionship. We don't get to bear witness to the events leading to the decisions, or have to endure the minutes, hours, days, weeks, months of suffering leading to the phone calls. To the "enough is enough." 

These decisions are not ours to make. They are not PeTA's to make. These decisions are for the guardians of these animals to make, just as the decision about how much is "enough" is ours to make when the relationships we have with OUR animals culminates in a "very bad day."

When someone says to me (and someone ALWAYS says this to me) "Why doesn't PeTA find these animals homes," I know that they just don't get it. I think back to our cat Lucy, and how we, to this day, don't know what could've happened to her, whether it was being hit by a car, or attacked by a dog that unhinged her jaw so that it laid across her chest, and broke her back so that she could only breathe and blink, and I think to myself, what if our veterinarian had suggested their trying to find her a home in that condition--as though we weren't already acting in her best interest by begging the vet to end her life. And people call PeTA "crazy."

There will always be people who look at these matters from the comfort of their computer screens and sit in judgement of the unknown, but I choose to remain here in the real world. I am proud to support PeTA in what has become the single-most misunderstood service they provide. I think back to Lucy. What if we had had to wait till morning, or Monday, or after the holiday, or couldn't afford to have her euthanized at all. What if we had to endure the scorn of strangers for not just releasing her to a shelter with a tearful wave and a "good-luck." Because that's what these people are suggesting. Get a grip, people. You are not King of the Universe. Some decisions are just not yours to make.


http://www.dogheirs.com/jodyfuller/posts/2785-the-love-of-my-life-rp
1 Comment
TeN
4/24/2013 06:16:40 am

Surely the decision is quite clear when an animal is so severely ill or injured that true euthanasia is being performed. As in the case of your Lucy.

But that isn't always the situation, is it? Given the ease with which many people dump off animals at kill shelters, it's unlikely that every single one of these animals taken to PETA are really in that grave a condition. Even when it's a good owner, sometimes they are making a decision based on incomplete or erroneous knowledge, or on circumstances unrelated to the animal (e.g. moving, finances, etc.)

Those of us in rescue see all too many times that animals surrendered to kill shelters are either healthy or can be restored to health with some treatment, or can have behavioral issues corrected/treated. It is unrealistic to expect that a pet owner necessarily has the level of knowledge to know what can be done to help the pet.

So, does anyone knowledgeable (perhaps the person who would do the euthanasia) ever look at the animal, assess the problems, and if there is something treatable, talk to the surrendering owner about options? Not "with scorn" as you suggest, but with genuine caring as well as concern for the animal's best interest. I bet some of those owners would be ecstatic to learn that there ARE options, some of which might even allow the animal to return to its home.

A perfect example is diabetes which is poorly understood by pet owners. So many diabetic pets are surrendered and killed needlessly because the owners simply don't know better. With relatively cheap care, many of them can become diet contolled (not need insulin), stop the inappropriate peeing, regain the lost weight, and have a great quality life for years to come.

Of course that would require more effort from PETA than simply nodding, getting a signature, and killing the animal. Then again, no one ever said ethical animal rescue would be easy.

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