why is pet euthanasia legal?

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I once read a story about a man in Kalispell, Montana shooting his dog in the head because he was suffering and he couldn't afford a vet so he shot him to put him out of his misery. He was then facing animal abuse charges. I don't know the aftermeth.

But pain is a part of life. Just because an animal is in pain, that doesn't mean that it wants to die. The arguments for euthanasia implicitly imply that life is not worth living if one is in extreme pain but I disagree.

I am in pain and yet I go on. I suffer from depression and yet I choose to go on. My friend suffers from cancer but she chooses to go on despite the pain.

Anyway it is probably wrong that we have pets in the first place. Pets for our own gratification that is. All animals would probably be better just left off in the wild.

I strongly oppose euthanizing 'unwanted' animals that to me is sick....not to mention animals aren't stupid, how would people who who are willing to do that feel if they where taken somewhere while perfectly healthy to be killed? I wouldn't mind seeing animals euthanize them..........anyways letting something suffer in obvious pain sits worse with me than putting them out of their misery whether its a human or an animal.

Depression is not the same as say getting so sick you're literally starving to death/wasting away in which case I wouldn't want to stick around for that...I have depression along with anxiety and PTSD and yes those are very difficult and I am still continuing on though I do what I can to reduce symptoms but with that there is still the potential for at least temporary relief and some good experiences here and there. With a very severe terminal illness with constant physical pain as well as my already existing mental health issues would not be something I'd care to endure.

Or whatever sickness/ailment you have physically prevents you from being able to do it yourself...there is that as well.

Some animals commit suicide but it is uncommon. Just because a dog has cancer this doesn't mean it wants to die. A very determined animal will self-harm if it is in an inordinate amount of pain. But if you fire a flame thrower on a cat who is dying it's natural response is to remove itself from the flame (right? or am I wrong?). Despite the fact that it is already in an incredible amount of pain its instinct is to carry on and this is what life is all about. Animals survive on instinct.

I think it's incredibly callous to say "what's the big deal?" It's a life at stake. We have no evidence to show that there is life after death. So what could be more important than the topic of whether it is ethical for a human to take an animal's life? I can't think of much.

Apples and oranges.

If you see a dog do this, you will understand. The dog will SUFFER for a period of time and still carry on. One day, it will try to wander off where it knows it should not go, or it will refuse to come back into the house/yard it normally lives. At that point, it's chosen to give up and let the end come. Most pet owners ignore it and keep trying to help the dog until someone intervenes and makes them see the animal is only in pain.

Vets can do some things to prolong the pet's life, but it's not cheap and has questionable results.

Humans are not much different. We choose to endure so long as we have hope life is worth living. Once we are bad off enough that we no longer have hope, we are willing to take our own lives or will ask for life-preserving care to be taken away so that death will claim us.

Unlike lower animals, humans can find purpose for living even when our bodies betray us. Most animals, if all they can do is sit there all day, would have no reason to go on once they get that bad.

I have had to put down several cats.

No, they never "consented" to it, but they also never "consented" to the medication I administered, or the veterinarian treatment they received. As a human, with a human brain, I have superior decision-making skills to cats, who have cat brains.

I love animals, but I never understood why some people feel the need to romanticize them and pretend that they're really just little people in fur suits.......

So, if an animal is terminally ill, at the end of it's life and suffering, it's cruel to keep it alive and more humane to end it's suffering but if a human is at the end their life and suffering, it's not only ethical to let them suffer but completely unethical to end their suffering? What makes human suffering so special that it should just be allowed to continue as opposed to an animal suffering that we're obliged to end it?

I don't understand your reasoning as to why it would be unethical.

Well yeah being burnt alive is probably more painful than dying of cancer...I can't say for certain but I would imagine, so of course the cats going to move if someone was actually cruel enough to set a flame thrower on it. Obviously the idea is to kill someone/something in the least painful/horrifying way possible to put them out of their misery.

Also though what about animals naturally going off to die when they are old and worn? that does not seem like trying to continue on indefinitely forever, seems like even animals can have an awareness of their time here being at an end. I don't say that because I don't think it matters but more because if something/someone is already dying...chances are they'd prefer the least amount of pain. I mean if there was a sick animal and a good chance it would recover or even a minimal chance then I'd say help it stick it out as long as it can....but if the animal is dying/starving and constantly expressing its in terrible unrelenting pain and not going to recover I wouldn't see the unethical part of putting it out of its misery.

To use the earlier example if a person or animal were burning alive would it be best to shoot them...or just let them burn alive in the off chance it is too late to save them, they will die anyways and it will either be due to the bullet someone shoots them with or via melting flesh and burning....which is more humane?

Why people insist humans are 'superior' is what I don't get....if that where the case we wouldn't have need of all the technology that has been developed because we'd have just evolved to survive in nature. Sure humans can think about a lot of stuff that is entirely irrelevant to cats doesn't mean we are a superior to them.

Of course cats are not humans in a little cat suit....but I hardly can understand the notion that they are just blank slates that act solely on instinct and nothing else, since cats and dogs tend to have quite distinct personalities and purposely screw with people/other animals, the express affection or even dislike and all kinds of stuff at least on a basic level they are capable of feelings not as in depth as people have but enough to where there is something there...they can also trust/distrust people.

My aunt and uncles dog walked onto the dock in Montana and fell in the lake. They thought it was suicide. She was pretty old and had cancer before. I am not sure of she was in pain or not.

Yeah let's just start euthanizing old people and throwing them down the garbage shoot!
Yeah, let's borrow from Hitler's holocaust of the jews! Yay!
That is exactly what Hitler did, he euthanized people.
But on the bright side, he banned hunting and animal experimentation (except he used jews instead).
Yeah obviously you've never watched a single holocaust doc or read The Giver.

I knew this would turn into an argument about human euthanasia even though that wasn't my intention.

I understand there are some good arguments against human euthanasia.

So I'm actually surprised that no one seems to agree with me about pet euthanasia. Huh, well interesting. I suppose I am alone. Seems weird how I seem to think the opposite of other people on this issue.

As to those who are for animal euthanasia, the argument seems to hinge on the fact that we are dealing with domestic animals (which is a good point). Another question I might pose is it ethical for us to domesticate animals in the first place? Yeah, I love house cats, but it is right?

Neither do I.

I have read The Giver.