What is your opinion of rescue centres that practice euthanasia? Is it okay in some circumstances (e.g. incurable, painful medical condition) but not in others? Is it idealistic and naive to say that shelters should never euthanise an animal?
Personally, I don't really know where my feelings are with this. I despise how some organisations take in animals for the sole purpose of euthanising them without even trying to heal them or trying to get them adopted, like PETA and the RSPCA. There seems something deeply wrong about it.
Where I volunteered, at Celia Hammond Cat Sanctuary, they used euthanasia sparingly. Generally it was for animals that were not going to ever be adopted or were going to die of medical conditions painfully. I remember one cat who had incontinence and would pee all over the place. He had been there almost two years and, predictably, nobody wanted to adopt him. When I left they were talking seriously about euthanising him to avoid keeping him caged forever, since he was only about 8 years old. A lot of their animals had been there 6 months - 1 year, and every day they turned away kittens or cats that would have been snapped up in weeks. I can't say that the lives of those kittens were worth more than the lives of the cats who had been there for a year, but I at least understand the thinking behind euthanasia to free up space.
What do you think?
Personally, I don't really know where my feelings are with this. I despise how some organisations take in animals for the sole purpose of euthanising them without even trying to heal them or trying to get them adopted, like PETA and the RSPCA. There seems something deeply wrong about it.
Where I volunteered, at Celia Hammond Cat Sanctuary, they used euthanasia sparingly. Generally it was for animals that were not going to ever be adopted or were going to die of medical conditions painfully. I remember one cat who had incontinence and would pee all over the place. He had been there almost two years and, predictably, nobody wanted to adopt him. When I left they were talking seriously about euthanising him to avoid keeping him caged forever, since he was only about 8 years old. A lot of their animals had been there 6 months - 1 year, and every day they turned away kittens or cats that would have been snapped up in weeks. I can't say that the lives of those kittens were worth more than the lives of the cats who had been there for a year, but I at least understand the thinking behind euthanasia to free up space.
What do you think?