<p>My brother never contributed one kibble to this dog’s well being but wanted to be upset because the dog was dead and no one told him. Well it wasn’t your dog when you left the dog it was my grandparents dog. </p>
<p>acollegestudent, the huge majority of the pets that get euthanized in the US do not get euthanized in vet clinics because their owners brought them there with such a request. Thousands and thousands of unwanted cats and dogs get put to sleep in animal control shelters every week. Sadly, I know a lot about this since I used to volunteer in a no-kill shelter (btw, “no kill” is a myth, a facade built to project a positive image - if the pet is not deemed adoptable, the no kill shelter would just say sorry, no space available). Euthanasia is just the sad consequence of not spaying and neutering, which is the real reason why pets end up getting killed in the first place. If you really want to save lives, you should direct your energy accordingly.</p>
<p>OP, hugs to you and your D. </p>
<p>I’m cynical about “no-kill” shelters too, and their sometimes holier-than-thou supporters. Oh, you operate a no-kill cat shelter, and over there across town there is a municipal cat shelter that euthanizes? Why don’t you just take all the cats from the city shelter then, and keep them from being killed? Oh, you say you can’t find homes for all those cats and kittens? Yeah… neither can the kill shelters, that’s why they have to euthanize some of the animals. No-kill shelters depend on the existence of killing shelters to handle the overpopulation problem that the no-kill shelters cannot fully handle. </p>
<p>OTOH, the no-kill shelters I know about are vociferous about advocating and providing spay/neuter, but then, so are the killing shelters.</p>
<p>Most people who have shared having to put down a pet feel that they let the pet suffer longer than needed (just had a friend go through this and yes they are torn and yes they called the kid at college since the dog was a FAMILY pet). </p>
<p>As the owner of 2 19+ year old cats who while ostensibly adopted as our children’s pets, have been mostly my responsibility over the years, I have to agree with cmgrayson. If I have had the lion’s share of the care and substantial financial responsibility for the animals’ care, I am certainly in the best position to know when it’s in the cats’ best interest to stop prolonging their suffering and let them go as gently and peaceably as possible. I’ve had to face this situation before and will be facing it again, sooner than I’d like.</p>
<p>Acollegestudent, your issues seem to be more about you than about what’s best for your animals. You may want to reexamine your priorities if prolonging an animal’s suffering is more important to you than your relationship with your actual human family.</p>
<p>We had two family rabbits. One died unexpectedly during finals while S was away at college. We told him after he had completed all his exams, as there was nothing to be gained by telling him earlier. He seemed to take it well. We had planned to tell him when we saw him home for the holidays but it slipped into the conversation. There was no acrimony. </p>
<p>FWIW, I can’t imagine doing anything my kids or parents wouldn’t forgive or vice versa. That seems very melodramatic to me. We love unconditionally and are all just doing the best we can and accept our loved ones are as well, complete with the lapses that are part of being human. </p>
<p>Oh rabbits.
We took older Ds classroom rabbit home for the summer when she was ten & her sister was two.
It died while we had it. Id never had a rabbit before & wasn’t familiar enough with it to even know if it had been ill.
I called the teacher & we buried the rabbit ( dwarf lop- very sweet) in the backyard of my mothers house.
My youngest talked about her for years.</p>
<p>Himom, I agree with you about unconditional family love.
My oldest & I are mostly estranged ( despite the fact that I told her of her cats death before finals) -, but I not only would give an appendage to have the relationship we used to have, I would exchange my life for hers without hesitation even though I haven’t seen her for over a year.
=(( </p>