Religion aside, it was beyond me killing him as I had taken care of him since he was only three weeks old and had to be bottle fed. Friends were all telling me to "put him to sleep" and that he was suffering but I couldn't do it. As the primary care giver, it was very tough on me too. Despite having done all that I have for my dog, I still felt that I haven't done enough. I could have gotten him a pet wheelchair if not for his advanced age at 14+ years when this happened and besides losing his mobility, he also lost his sense of balance. I grew a lot older these past 7.5 month but in the end, I am glad that I didn't succumb to the temptation to end it all with just one shot. Actually, religion forbids me even thinking of putting an end to life but I was thinking if that was a better option than allowing my dog to waste away in pain with his body riddled with pressure sores.
Having spent the past couple of days reading up on pet euthanasia on the web, I believe that there is no wrong or right in a pet owner's decision to opt in or out of mercy killing. I am lucky that I work from home and could stay by my dog's side 24 hours a day, so much so that I only stepped out of the house once during the entire time he was bedridden but not everyone could do that with school, work or life to live.
To me, it is wrong to put a pet to sleep because of old age but if the pet is very sick or diseased and medicine could no longer help, I really do wonder. It's every pet owner's nightmare and I hope that no pet lover has to go through what I did.



