Can a healthy dog be put to sleep?

[kimbilly]

Is a vet allowed to put a perfectly healthy dog to sleep?

I recently “rescued” a dog from a family that no longer wanted him. They claim to have tried for 8 months to get rid of the dog but had had no luck. They complained he was needy and destructive….. he is neither. They were due to leave on holiday and had said that if he does not find a home they will be putting him to sleep?

Anyway, when I heard about all of this I decided to take the dog in and try and find him the perfect home, I was not in a rush and wanted the new home to be the right one.
I always thought that all the talk was just threats and that they just hoped by being so mean that the dog would go to a home.

Last week I called the dogs vet just to get some insight into his history and as I got chatting I mentioned about the “putting to sleep story”. The lady on the other end of the phone responded by saying “oh yes, the appointment was already made”.

How can a vet look at a perfectly healthy 3 year old dog and just destroy it??? And just because the owner don’t want it any more.

It just makes me sad as I always look up to vets as some one I could turn to if I was stuck. I will be sure to avoid this one by miles.

[nuttynutmeg]

It is sad,but it happens,unfortunately.

I am almost 30 and back in school I contemplated being a vet. I could not do that. I would take those animals home with me. I don't know how they can do it??

Maybe it's because they know the owners have no need for thier pet and rather than have that pet roaming the streets the vet sees this as saving it? I personally don't see it as saving,but the vet may have though.

I also don't understand why they would the pay the $100 or so to put it to sleep. Why not a shelter/rescue and donate that money to the shelter/rescue? At least the dog,would have it's life and a new beginning.

This has got me loving my babies more and more. I could never in the life of me ever put down a healthy animal,this has got tears in my eyes as I am writing this,this is so sad........

[Lissa]

I agree that it is quite upsetting to think that vet's can and will put to sleep a completely healthy pet. The vet have very little "say" in the matter, I've heard stories of a vet asking the owner if they could keep it and find the animal a home but the owner insists that the dog be put down. It's ridiculous. My friend also put her 4 year old cat to sleep because she was peeing everywhere. Neither the vet or her assistants asked any questions, they just did it.

I am so glad that you had the heart to take the dog in and that the owners let you! At least he has another chance at finding a forever home. Have you found him a home yet!?

Melissa

[kandy]

As I was reading this thread, I was appalled that a vet would put down a healthy animal. Although I can think of one vet in my town that would probably do it with no questions asked. It was such an agonizing decision to have my dog put to sleep when she was diagnosed with total kidney failure, I can't even imagine doing it to a healthy dog. Thank you for taking him in so that he wouldn't have to suffer the fate that his previous owners decided was right for him. I get so peeved when I hear of things like this - would this family put down one of their kids if they thought they were misbehaving???? In my opinion, it's the same thing - when you have a dog, you have accepted certain responsibilities and that means for life - not just for as long as you want to!!!

[SnowDancer]

My vet wouldn't do it. But what you don't know is what story the people gave the vet - they could have said that the dog was biting people on the street for no reasone etc. Some of the seemingly sweetest dogs in the world will do this - I know, I had one. I know a few people that have convinced vets to put a dog to sleep for this reason - when the dogs in fact were not biting.

[kimbilly]

I did ask the "lady on the phone" and she said he was a healthy boy with no reported issues or problems.....

[kimbilly]

Originally Posted by Lissa

I am so glad that you had the heart to take the dog in and that the owners let you! At least he has another chance at finding a forever home. Have you found him a home yet!?Melissa

Yes He has a new home. I had him for 2 weeks and loved him to bits, but I knew that having two dogs was out of the question right now. I have a 7 month old Beagle. I posted an adoption "ad" on here, but managed to find a home through other sources.

The whole story of his life is sad, and he is such an amazing dog. I can not believe that someone could look at him and think " i don't want you anymore so you are going to get put to sleep", the tought just makes me mad.

Attached is a picture of the guy, you can see what an good looking dog he is, and his personality is perfect.

[Dahlia]

Awww, he's adorable! I guess some people don't think about taking the dog to a rescue instead of having it put to sleep. That's a shame. Maybe they just think that if they don't want the dog no one else will either.

[kimbilly]

I am sorry if I upset anyone with my question. I was just really upset by the whole and am glad that I saved the dog and got him a great home.

Thank you everyone for your insight into it and of course sorry again if I upset anyone.

[Prin]

Prin - and if any of the owners of those dogs that were revived find out that the vet did this, they can sue the vet. I'm terribly disturbed by that comment, that some vets that you know would be willing to break the law in such a way

I find it more disturbing when they don't save a perfectly good dog/cat when they can. Most of these people couldn't care less about what happened to the animal after it's gone. It's not like these people have lived with the animal for 15 years or anything. They want it gone because it is not a person to them. What is wrong with stopping the death of an animal that isn't ready to die?

I cannot imagine the vet you worked with Prin - I hope you resigned as soon as you could just to protest that kind of practice! It's horrible!

I resigned for worse reasons than that... Many many many worse reasons. I tell people I know who bring their dogs there not to go there and they say they've never had a problem and actually KEEP going!!! Anyway...

[Lucky Rescue]

I do know of a vet who will agree to kill a perfectly healthy animal and when the owner leaves they find it a home.

And vets are perfectly free to refuse to kill any animal.