WHY MUST WE EUTHANIZE?

by Phyllis Wright, The Humane Society News, Summer 1978

Anyone who works in or cares about animal protection must eventually face the fact that millions of dogs and cats must be euthanized each year because there are no homes for them. No one, least of all The HSUS [or the LA/SPCA], is happy about this. Nevertheless, we realize it is a necessary kindness to euthanize unwanted animals.

But some people have great difficulty accepting this. They see the kindness in euthanizing an animal that is in great pain, or terminally ill. But why must young, healthy dogs and cats be put to sleep simply because no one will take them home? Why can’t they be kept at the shelter indefinitely, to live out their lives in warmth and comfort with plenty of food and good veterinary care?

Economically, this is rarely, if ever, possible. The cost of feeding and caring for millions of unwanted dogs and cats would be tremendous. Yet, that isn’t the most important reason. Animals, like humans, need more than food and shelter. They need affection and companionship. Without it, they suffer.

Phyllis Wright, HSUS vice president for companion animals, discusses below her own feelings on euthanasia, developed over many years of dealing with the problems of unwanted animals.

We all know people who never want an animal euthanized, who insist it’s best to keep the animal alive and breathing regardless of how badly the animal lives, how inade­quate its care, or how impressive its loneliness. That is the worst thing we can do.
Our objective is to prevent and release animals from suffering. We know that death, humanely admin­istered, is not an evil, but a blessing to animals that are of no comfort to themselves or to the world because they are unwanted and suffering in isolation. And we are positive that it is no comfort to dogs or cats to be kept alive indefinitely in shelter cages, even if they are well fed. Com­panionship is one of the basic needs of dogs, cats, horses, or any animal we have domesticated.

I ran a boarding kennel in Wash­ington, D.C., from 1954 to 1960, and I, like most people, learned things the hard way. I had two-and-a-half acres of fenced-in yard. I had decided those dogs needed exercise and, by darn, they were going to get exercise. On Sundays the front gate was pad­locked and that was their day for exercise. “OK, come on Snoopy, let’s go; OK, come on Tag, let’s go out.” Three minutes later here’s everybody sitting at the fence, because Phyllis was working inside. That’s where they wanted to be; they wanted to be where Phyllis was. They didn’t care about the apple orchard, the grape yard, anything. That didn’t seem to mean a thing to them. They didn’t run around and skitter about; they sat at the gate. Now, if I walked out there and threw sticks or balls or played with them, oh, that was fun! But companionship was what they wanted more than freedom. I’m to­tally convinced that companionship is the most important thing. Without companionship, what does a dog or cat have?

I remember one shelter in Dallas, Texas. A nice lady left a million-and-a-half dollars in 1927 to establish a perpetuated home for stray and lost dogs. The bank in Dallas sat on the money from 1927 to 1947. But the money was left for stray and homeless animals, not for stray and homeless bankers. So in 1947 some pressure was brought and they decided they had to do something or be in hot wa­ter. So what they did was build three-foot cages, three feet high, and put twenty-five dogs in them. And they hired a caretaker that came in every­day, put the dogs outside for an hour, cleaned up inside, put the dogs back inside, gave them food and water, and went home. I had the unfortunate experience to visit this shelter a cou­ple of years ago, with TV cameras, newspaper reporters, and a few radio station reporters.

The dogs were so insane that when you walked into the room, they started going in circles, hitting all four sides of the cage. You couldn’t get your hands on those dogs. They hadn’t had any companionship, not even an occasional pat on the head. Obviously, these aren’t the same dogs they had in 1947; although there were a few dogs that were 13 or 14 years old. Now, I have seen a lot of cruelty personally, and I have euthanized a lot of animals personally. But I have never been as sick as I was when I came out of that building. To think that animals live like that continu­ously for 12 or 13 years!

They now take the dogs out for four hours a day, certainly better than one. They hired a lady to give the animals some individual’ attention. It still is not right. And we are still fighting it.

It isn’t just the bankers and trustees that get involved in keeping pets alive at all costs, under the misguided idea they are being kind. Unfortunately, there are many private shelters who brag that they “never put an animal to sleep,” not realizing the cruelty which is the inevitable result of lone­liness, permanent caging, and old age.

So when we talk about animals’ needs, let’s remember that compan­ionship is one of the most important factors in an animal’s life. Where does your dog and cat like to be? They like to be where you are. They like to be, if they can get there, on your bed. If they can’t quite make that scene, they like being under the bed. They like to be as close to you as they can.

I know it is difficult to put animals to sleep. I’ve put 70,000 dogs and cats to sleep; and I’m aware of the trauma. But I tell you one thing: I don’t worry about one of those animals that was put to sleep. And I worry a great deal about dogs and cats that have to spend their lives shut in small cages or runs, or left chained to the back porch day-in and day-out, without affection or companionship. Being dead is not a cruelty to animals. Being half alive is.

We have the responsibility’ to release these animals from suffering. We have the responsibility to make sure this release is as painless and comfortable as possible, even when it means studying the morbid topic of euthanasia methods. We also have the responsibility to work towards a time when all pets will have respon­sible, caring owners and euthanasia is no longer needed.

Education is one of the most effec­tive tools we have to prevent cruelty to animals. I don’t think there is a better tool to accomplish this. In the past ten years, there has been a grow­ing awareness of the problem of un­wanted animals. I think The HSUS can take a lot of credit for bringing this out to the public. We have never hidden the facts. We have never swept the fact under the carpet that animals have to be killed.

In fact, some of the criticism in the outside world is that “I don’t want to know that.” Well, if you don’t know it, you can’t do anything about it. And if you are not aware the problem ex­ists, you can’t solve it. The first thing you must do in your community is make your community aware of this problem, because when we have only responsible pet owners, who are ed­ucated about what it is to own a pet, our shelters and pounds will no longer be needed to receive, hold, and euthanize unwanted and homeless animals. That, my friends, is an end goal for each one of us.