Killing an animal to save it from pain.

Thoreau

Thoreau

Valued Senior Member
Based on a post here, I have a question for you all.

If you ever came across an animal that was obviously dying, would you try to rescue it or put it out of it's misery?

I for one have had to make this choice many times.

When I was 18 or so, we had a cow that had broken it's leg. When it did, it slid into the mud and got stuck. It had obviously been in that position for at least a few days. Being way out in the middle of nowhere and not having the equipment to lift the cow, I faced a choice. But I chose to stay there with the animal until it passed natrually probably due to starvation or internal bleeding. I had never shot an animal and didn't want that to be the first time (nor did I have a gun on me at the time). The cow seems very calmed by my presence and I stayed with her for about 9 hours until she passed.

However, another example: When I was in Iraq, a dog had been hit by a stray bullet. Still concious and breathing but barely able to move, I decided that I couldn't let it continue suffering and thus put it out of it's misery (with permission from my superiors).
 
Depends on the injury or predicament.
I once killed a frog that had it's hindquarters flattened by a car
Also a baby bird (still without feathers) that had been taken from its nest by a Magpie (most likely) and left to die in the burning sun. It was all dried out already, so I put it out of it's misery.
I beheaded both with a shovel.

I saved countless insects from a certain drowning though and a number of frogs from my cats.
I also saved a salamander once that was fleeing from construction work that had filled up the ditch it came from with sand. I found it in the middle of the road at night and it would probably have died from dehydration the following day (it was in the middle of the summer and there was no other water nearby) if it would survive crossing the road. So I picked it up from the road and drove it to a nice pond a couple of miles away and released it (the same pond where I released the frogs that I saved from my cats).
 
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when my cat was hit by a car i seriously concidered trying to inject air into a vain to kill him quicker because he was struggling so badly:(
 
I save snapping turtles all the time. There are a lot of them in MN where I live and during the summer, you can frequently see them crossing roads. They move so slowly that they are in a lot of danger on roads. Most people don't like them because they are agressive and ugly. They can also easily take a finger or possibly a hand. So most people try to run them over. You can't pick them up because their heads can reach most parts of their bodies so I usually push them along with a stick or have them snap the stick and drag them off to the side of the road. Its always scary though!

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MZ3Boy84 said:
If you ever came across an animal that was obviously dying, would you try to rescue it or put it out of it's misery?

I for one have had to make this choice many times.
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I have done both. Deer, cats, raccoons, frogs, are some that come to mind that I have put out of their misery. When their backs are broken, or legs mangled, they really dont have a chance to survive.

I have brought in wildlife to vets for rehab when found wounded. So far, none of the birds survived, but the turtle with the cracked shell did.

A dog got hit by a car as I walked down the road with a friend. The woman stopped but didnt have time to take it to the vet. Kinda pissed me off. Broad daylight and she just ran it over.

Some construction workers stopped as I stood in the road preventing others from hitting the dog again. Its leg was broken, but not mangled and it was crying in pain. They picked it up and took it to the vet and I assured them I would spread word around about the dog. Turned out to be a classmates dog. Vet was really hesitant to take it in for care (because who would pay the bill) but the construction dudes talked him into it. The dog survived.
 
skaught said:
I save snapping turtles all the time. There are a lot of them in MN where I live and during the summer, you can frequently see them crossing roads. They move so slowly that they are in a lot of danger on roads. Most people don't like them because they are agressive and ugly. They can also easily take a finger or possibly a hand. So most people try to run them over. You can't pick them up because their heads can reach most parts of their bodies so I usually push them along with a stick or have them snap the stick and drag them off to the side of the road. Its always scary though!

P6091122.jpg
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just grab the fuckers by their tails
 
pjdude1219 said:
just grab the fuckers by their tails
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Their usually too heavy to carry away at arms length. And if your not careful, they can bite you in the legs or, god forbid, a place you really do NOT want to get snapped! But if they are small and light enough, I will do this. I have yet to come across one that is though.
 
Lived like a murder

Because it suits the topic:

• Soundgarden, "Like Suicide"​

And, yes. My cat has a thing for not killing her hunting prizes. It's been a while, because she's presently an indoor cat on the third floor, but I've had to brick mice before.
 
This is very hard for me to do. I or my family have saved cats who have lost and eye, dog whose leg was crushed in an accident [she has to hold it straight, but is otherwise a scatty loving creature], a cat that broke its back [never grew to full size and always had pain, but was so loving that we could not put him down]. The only cat we put down was our beloved Apache and if I had been home at the time, I could not have let that happen either. I just cannot give up on anyone like that.
 
When I was 14 I backed up over my cat. My step-dad was so angry he made me go to the barn and get a shovel to kill it. My 12 yr old brother took care of it for me. He was appalled at how mean my step-dad was. Everyone knows I don't kill animals.
 
I try to apply standards to other species of animals that are based on my standards for my own species.

If some day I am incurably ill or injured beyond hope of surgical repair so that death is inevitable, and also in serious pain, or have lost my cognitive abilities so that my body is an empty shell, OR SIMPLY LIE THERE ASKING FOR IT, I hope someone will be merciful enough to put me out of my misery. As I age I think seriously about establishing residence in a jurisdiction where a doctor, family member or other caregiver could do that without violating any stupid laws.

I don't know how any other species of animal deals with pain, mutiliation or hopelessness. All I can do is treat him the way I would want to be treated in his situation, and hope for the best.

I have a friend who, when he was younger, rescued squirrels that had been hit by cars. He set their bones and performed other surgeries, and turned them loose when they had healed. Some never recovered enough to survive in the wild, so he continued to care for them and eventually they adapted to being tame. He had one who was an actual paraplegic but he loved her. He was a dressmaker so he used to dress her up in little handmade outfits for photo shoots. Last I heard she was about four years old and doing fine--I didn't know they could live that long even if they were healthy.

Birds are very difficult to save if they have internal injuries. All of their systems are stripped down to the minimum weight so they can fly, like their hollow bones. They have virtually no immune system and they don't heal well. You can splint a broken leg or wing--if you're an expert--and simple antibiotics like amoxycillin (aquarium supply stores sell it in bulk) will cure many infections, but anything worse than that is hard for even an avian veterinary specialist to cure. Keeping their body temperature at 101F/43C is important, you can usually do that by putting a 100w incandescent bulb in their cage and letting them decide how close to it they want to sit.

If you have an unfledged baby bird that was abandoned or fell out of its nest you can save it but it will be the biggest project you ever took on in your life so you'd better be a serious bird lover. You have to feed it every four hours day and night, special food you get at a bird shop and mix up, heated to 101F/43C, and you have to shove it down its throat with a tiny syringe. You also have to keep the bird at that temperature day and night. As it becomes fledged one day it will surprise you and start flying, and your dog, no matter how sweet and gentle he is, will catch it and kill it because it looks like a toy you tossed for him to play with. (Ironically cats usually get along pretty well with pet birds but dogs and birds just don't mix.)

At this point you've got an imprinted bird who thinks you are his mother and therefore he must be a human. If you turn him loose he won't get along in the wild because he will attempt to socialize with "other humans." You've probably got yourself a new pet.

We had a little grosbeak flying around in our house for a couple of years and it was an indescribably wonderful experience. She was quite happy and well adjusted and our cats let her take baths in their water dish--until the dog killed her. But there aren't a lot of people who would be happy to have a bird flying around inside their house, pooping on the furniture, chewing on everything that looks like a worm, and investigating everything on your dinner plate. And if you're going to keep her in a cage you might as well do her a favor and let her die before you bother to save her in the first place.

Some birds, like canaries, have been captive-bred for hundreds of years and are now not very active and don't mind living all alone in a cage. But most birds would rather die.
 
Sounds better than "squash the f@ck out of"

Enmos said:

lol I've never heard that expression before..
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I picked it up from the Soundgarden track linked above:

And my last ditch was my last brick,
Lent to finish her ....

("Like Suicide")​

Mouse, plastic bag, cinderblock ....
 
I have had good luck with birds that hit windows, if their necks are not obviously broken and there's no blood in their mouth, warming them in my hands.

The shock screws up their temperature regulation, and the hypothermia kills them - but if you keep them warm they often recover and fly off apparently OK.

Rodents in the house are tough, because they are cute up close, but I kill them - a standard mouse trap in good condition snapped on their necks is quick and clean.

Family animals, when it's their time, I don't like to trust to a stranger. The last cat we had die was doing OK on her own, so I got some pain drugs from the vet and just made her as comfortable as possible while she faded out. She liked the closet.
 
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