Legal aspects of animal euthanasia

Euthanasia - basic issues

Cats, dogs, rodents, birds are euthanized. As a rule, these are very old or terminally ill animals. In some cases, for example, the death of the owner, healthy pets have to be euthanized.
Euthanasia is carried out only by qualified veterinarians, in compliance with all the rules for the humane euthanasia of pets .
After euthanasia or in case of natural death, the veterinarian can take the animal’s corpse for general cremation; individual cremation is possible.

Indications for euthanizing a dog

Euthanasia of dogs is carried out only for medical and social reasons. The first category includes cases where the animal suffers from a serious illness and its chances of survival are almost impossible. In such a situation, the owner of a sick pet should consult a veterinarian, conduct a full diagnosis and obtain a prognosis for the further outcome. If a high probability of death is confirmed, there is a need for euthanasia. It is prohibited to euthanize a healthy dog without indications.

The procedure must be carried out in the following situations:

for terminally ill pets with diagnoses: malignant neoplasm, inoperable cyst, massive internal bleeding that cannot be treated;
a large number of injuries with a low probability of recovery;
for old or weakened dogs;
in the presence of congenital pathologies that create great discomfort for the pet’s full life;
infection with a deadly infection for humans: the rabies virus;
bites of exotic insects, snakes without an antidote.

It is strictly forbidden to use a tranquilizer if a pet with a disability is in good health. The procedure should not be performed if there is a high chance of survival in the presence of a malignant tumor or infectious disease. In the latter case, the pathology should not be dangerous to humans.

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Social indications for euthanasia include aggressive behavior of a dog. Such measures are necessary if the animal cannot be trained and becomes dangerous to others. If a dog attacks an adult or child for no reason, causing severe physical harm, the court decides to euthanize the pet.

How do you know when it’s time to euthanize an animal?

We are talking about old and sick animals and usually adhere to the following criteria:

the animal does not eat or cannot digest the food it eats;
an animal of significant weight (more than 30 kg) cannot walk;
the animal cannot urinate on its own and defecate, or when defecating and urinating on its own, there is no way to maintain hygiene;
the animal has opened, suppurating tumors on its body and has no reaction to antibiotics and is unable to maintain hygiene;
the animal has continuous convulsions that cannot be relieved by medications;
the animal shows obvious signs of pain that cannot be relieved by medications;
the animal is in a lethargic state or falls into a coma if effective treatment is impossible.

What kind of euthanasia should not happen?

Many people, including veterinarians, oppose euthanasia. But here it is necessary to clarify what exactly the procedure is being discussed against. Unfortunately, sometimes the animal is immediately injected with drugs to stop pulmonary and cardiac activity, without prior anesthesia. Any conscientious doctor will be against this and will not even offer this option. After all, the animal is fully conscious and dies from the inability to take a breath, it simply suffocates and dies from suffocation, suffering incredibly. The majority of understanding people are against such euthanasia, without prior deep anesthesia.

It should also be alarming if the veterinarian immediately suggests euthanizing an animal that was brought to the appointment, without properly examining it or even trying to prescribe treatment. The owners should be against this approach. But such cases are rare. It often happens that, on the contrary, veterinarians take away from the owners the animal that the owners brought to be euthanized and nurse it.

Is it possible to euthanize a dog at home?

If the dog is so sick that it is difficult for it to move, it is better to call a doctor at home for euthanasia. In this case, euthanizing the dog at home would be the best option. But before that, you should ask what drugs this veterinarian uses for euthanasia. In other cases, it is better to euthanize the dog in a specialized clinic.

There are many types of euthanasia: bleeding, calcination of the spinal cord, asphyxiation with nitrogen (argon), injection of ethyl alcohol, potassium chloride, hydrochloride, air embolism and others. But most of them cause painful death.

The most humane is a medicinal procedure consisting of two stages. First, the doctor introduces a complex anesthetic composition, which anesthetizes and turns off the animal’s consciousness. The dog goes into deep anesthesia and stops feeling anything.

After this, potent drugs are administered that stop the animal’s breathing and cardiac activity. It is best if the veterinarian uses barbiturates for such euthanasia: sodium thiopental, hexenal, etc. With their help, the pet simply slowly falls asleep and feels nothing as its heart gradually stops.

It is better when the pet owner is not present during euthanasia. And, since self-burial of animals is not encouraged by law and is subject to fines, it is better to hand over the animal’s corpse to a special station and order its cremation.

After euthanasia

The veterinarian will listen to the animal's heart for a while to confirm the death, then inform you about it. He may leave the room to leave you alone.

This period of time is very emotional. Everyone understands what you're going through. Stay here as long as you feel comfortable. If you have already paid for everything, you can simply leave quietly.

Keep in mind that after death, any living organism can excrete urine, feces and other bodily fluids.
This is natural and occurs due to muscle relaxation.
It is possible that your pet's eyes will remain open.
Muscle spasms and air leakage often occur, accompanied by sounds.
This does not mean that the person euthanized is alive; this is a normal part of the process that occurs after death.

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Euthanasia procedure

First, the veterinarian examines the animal and discusses treatment options with the owners; if there is no hope for a positive outcome of the disease, then they begin to euthanize the animal.
Depending on individual factors and the condition of the animal, euthanasia may take from 5 to 30 minutes.
Euthanasia of animals consists of several stages (the stages move from one to another and can be a single intravenous injection).
In the first part of euthanasia, the activity of the central nervous system is suppressed for the purpose of pain relief. There is no pain or adequate reaction to stimuli, but reflexes, as a rule, are preserved.
In the second part of euthanasia of animals, inhibition of nervous activity increases until breathing and heart stops or the respiratory and cardiovascular centers are blocked.
Usually, the breathing function stops first, and after 3 – 25 minutes the heart stops, but it can be the other way around, but after the heart stops, breathing disappears very quickly.
Sometimes, when clinical death occurs, the agony continues for 10 - 20 minutes - while the animal does not feel anything - the brain does not work, but due to the automaticity of heart contractions, rare respiratory movements continue, and there may be convulsions. Unfortunately, it is impossible to prevent such events and influence them, because the automatic abnormal functioning of the heart does not respond to any medicinal substances. One thing is certain - animals do not experience suffering and do not feel anything at all - the brain is dead.

How does an animal feel when euthanized?

Putting a beloved animal to sleep is a painful moment for the owner. Many people cannot decide to euthanasia for fear that this manipulation will cause the animal even greater suffering than it already experiences due to illness or injury. But due to ignorance, such a person does exactly what he does not want - namely, makes the animal feel pain, while euthanasia is designed to relieve this suffering, quickly and humanely.

Let's figure out what exactly an animal feels when being euthanized, and why you can be sure that it does not feel pain, suffocation or other discomfort.

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It is important to understand that the animal does not experience mental anguish either before or, especially during euthanasia. Owners tend to endow their pets with their own pain, transfer their own feelings onto them, imagine what they themselves would feel and think about if they were awaiting euthanasia. However, this is a misguided tendency. Animals lack a second signaling system, so they cannot have reflections. The only things that are the same for everyone are physical pain, suffocation and other physical suffering. For a sick animal there are no thoughts about a possible future, it is not tormented by separation, and is not afraid of moving to another world. But the animal is in pain here and now, and it wants it to stop, although it cannot express it in words. Thus, BEFORE being put to sleep, it only feels physical agony.

Naturally, the animal is in deep stress just because of the very fact of the ongoing pain that it experiences. An animal may feel fear of a stranger - a veterinarian, and even more so of a clinic where it smells of other animals and their fears. In order to cope with these problems, it is advisable to carry out the euthanasia procedure at home . Firstly, the pet will be calmer in a familiar environment. Secondly, the owner will be able to calm him down during the process of meeting the veterinarian. The best option for euthanasia for a pet, which will make its care as easy as possible, is to be nearby during the procedure and speak kind words to the animal until the moment the specialist puts it under anesthesia.

And now about what pets feel directly when euthanized.

The purpose of euthanizing an animal is to humanely relieve it of suffering, and not to cause it. That is why the first of the two stages that the euthanasia process includes is putting the animal under anesthesia. Animals are given the same anesthesia during surgical operations. It affects the central nervous system and suppresses pain nerve impulses. Pain receptors turn off. The animal falls into deep sleep, immediately ceasing to suffer.

Using special manipulations, the veterinarian makes sure that the anesthesia has worked, and only then begins the second stage of euthanasia. The animal is given a drug that stops the heart and breathing. The sick animal does not experience any pain or discomfort. In addition, after the first stage of euthanasia is completed, we can confidently say that the animal does not hear you or feel your touch.

It happens that during euthanasia, involuntary muscle contractions of the animal occur, there may be convulsions and/or sharp inhalations and exhalations. But all these phenomena are purely reflexive in nature; the animal does not feel anything in this case either.

In general, the procedure for euthanizing an animal takes about 20 minutes.

Under no circumstances should you euthanize an animal yourself. There is a lot of information and valuable advice on the Internet, but those who give it are not always competent enough. Unfortunately, they are often handed out by people without veterinary education and without understanding the patterns of functioning of the body of either a sick or even a healthy animal. Therefore, if you decide to euthanize an animal , be sure to invite a veterinarian from the clinic. A certified practicing veterinarian has access to and approval for specialized medications that will allow euthanasia to occur painlessly and quickly. In addition, he knows exactly which areas should be injected during euthanasia - and this is also of great importance. You don’t invite a chef to fix complex equipment in your home when it breaks. And you are unlikely to do it yourself. And the animal’s body is a much more complex and subtle matter than even the “brain” of the most sophisticated and “smart” technology. Therefore, let a specialist in the field of just such complex organisms deal with this complex organism.

Thus, during euthanasia, carried out according to all the rules by a specialist, the animal does not feel pain, suffocation, convulsions or other physical discomfort. The animal also does not feel moral torment and does not suffer about its transition to another world, it will only experience relief that its physical torment has stopped.

During euthanasia, the pet will feel calmer and more confident in a familiar place, that is, at home, and hearing the owner’s voice, feeling his presence - exactly until the moment when the anesthesia takes effect. After the anesthesia has taken effect, the animal will not feel anything.

How the owner feels during all of the above processes is a separate topic. However, I would like to emphasize that in a situation where an animal is suffering, it is more important to think about the animal, about its comfort, about bringing relief first of all to it. And the owner must temporarily put aside his own feelings and doubts.