Veterinary opinions on refusing euthanasia: justifications and philosophical frameworks

Abstract

To obtain information on euthanasia decisions from practising veterinary surgeons, respondents were asked to estimate how often during their time in practice they had refused to euthanase a dog and how often they had wanted to refuse to euthanase a dog but not done so because of other pressures. For each, respondents were then asked to state their most common reasons for refusing/not refusing in free text. The responses of clinicians were considered in the light of established ethical concepts to produce an evidence-based ethical framework for decision making. In total, 58 practitioners responded. Common reasons given for decisions on whether to refuse euthanasia referred to the patient's interests, such as the possibility of treatment or rehoming, and the fear of other unacceptable outcomes for the dog. Other reasons were based on concern for owners' interests. Some respondents reported being pressured into euthanasia by clients and other veterinary surgeons. This gives insight into the ethical principles that explicitly underlie veterinary surgeons' euthanasia decisions and the resultant framework may be useful for discussing and teaching euthanasia.

Knowledge and opinions of veterinary students in Italy toward animal welfare science and law

“…Some authors strongly suggest that veterinary ethics should be taught as part of the AW curriculum (Main 2010, Morton and others 2013); however, the link between the concept of welfare and ethics seems to be essential. For example, ‘ethical awareness’ can be achieved by introducing topics such as animal suffering and quality of life (Magalhães-Sant'Ana and others 2014) as belonging to the definition of AW, but an ethical approach could help in deciding whether euthanasing an animal is not only an AW issue (Yeates and Main 2011). From our results, Italian veterinary students appear quite confident with their personal knowledge about AW, especially in the north of the country.…”

Survey of the frequency and perceived stressfulness of ethical dilemmas encountered in UK veterinary practice

“…The authors can only speculate the reason for this, but it might be related to the acceptance of an unpleasant but common reality, availability of methods to work around this (eg, doing an operation at a reduced fee) or possibly that financial constraints are seen as the client's responsibility and are as a result of their actions (as opposed to the other scenarios that were more directly related to the veterinary surgeons' actions). Higher stress ratings for clients wishing to continue treatment despite poor animal welfare/quality of life and convenience euthanasia may also be related to the fact that these are both situations in which the veterinary surgeons may be at odds with the clients and may be seen to go against their wishes (Yeates and Main 2011). The greater stress associated with clients wishing to continue treatment despite poor animal welfare may be a result of the difficulty of communicating to a well-meaning owner that animals ‘live in the now’ and that the primary interests relate to quality not quantity of life (Rollin 2003).…”

Longevity and mortality of cats attending primary care veterinary practices in England

“…Euthanasia decision-making is complex and emotionally intense both for owners (48) and veterinarians (49). Greater understanding of the human factors involved in pet euthanasia decisions may ameliorate the psychological burden on owners and veterinarians as well as improving the quality of the decisions made.…”