Euthanasia For Bad Behavior
As a trainer and behaviorist, I’m frequently asked for input in owner decisions regarding the option of euthanasia due to aggressive behavior.
Euthanasia is a permanent solution. No take backs. Sometimes it’s the right solution, and many times it’s just the convenient solution.
Much of my work involves high risk, aggressive dogs that are often large enough and strong enough to do serious damage (including mortal damage) to other animals and humans. It is the responsibility of the owner to determine the level of reasonable acceptable risk that can be tolerated and to take action to ensure that threshold isn’t breached and that humans and other animals are not exposed to serious danger.
There are a multitude of options to consider prior to finalizing a decision to put the dog down. If the animal is a serious threat to children, for instance, it is often a no brainer to quickly dismiss those other options and eliminate the risk immediately by having the animal destroyed. However, if the dog is simply aggressive toward other animals or people but isn’t physically capable of serious damage and/or the risk can be mitigated and managed through responsible handling and enclosures euthanasia becomes more of a matter of human convenience than necessity.
How much inconvenience should a person endure for the sake of their pet’s life? How much financial investment should a responsible owner commit to training and physical containment before giving up? The answer is always relational to the circumstances of the owner.
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A person who can barely afford to care for themselves and their human loved ones can obviously arrive at the euthanasia conclusion with a clearer conscience than a wealthy individual with disposable income who can easily afford training, physical security measures, and even home remodeling and landscaping to contain and eliminate the liability of having a dog with behavioral issues.
There are cases where a dog has become a danger to it’s own owners and it simply doesn’t make sense to tolerate the risk of having an animal in your home that you are afraid of, no matter how wealthy you are.
Ultimately the answer to whether you should euthanize your aggressive dog or not is relative to your own situation and conscience. Ask yourself these questions:
- Knowing that training and behavioral conditioning may or may not help, do I have the finances to invest in it and am I willing to spend it (knowing it may be futile) in the hope that my dog’s behavior is modified to the point the the risk is reduced to a reasonable level?
- Do I have the ability to manage the risk through containment and lifestyle changes so that people and animals are not put at risk through contact with my dog? Is the time and effort required for that risk management reasonable when weighed against my dog’s life?
- Is my dog near the end of it’s normal lifespan and are its remaining days in that expected lifespan few or many? If I put my dog down, how much time am I removing from it’s lifespan unnaturally?
Now, that’s the objective part of this article. Onward to my personal opinion:
Dog owners should acquire animals with the understanding and intent to be wholly responsible for the well being and safety of the animal. That means having the financial capability to pay both expected and unexpected veterinary costs, keep them nourished, sheltered, and mentally balanced.
If you add another animal to your household, you should do so with the intent to maintain those same responsibilities for each animal, not discard one or the other when they fail to get along. The dogs didn’t decide to take up residence in your home. You made that decision. If your decision was made in error, is it morally right to make the animal pay for it with its life?It is your responsibility to do whatever is necessary for them to be safe and have a good quality of life within reason.
As a dog owner, especially if you decide to own multiple animals, you should be prepared for both short and long periods of time where you live like a prison warden to contain and manage risk while you work with a professional trainer to remediate aggressive behaviors. You may not ever need the help of a trainer, but you should be prepared to get one just in case.
If you’re not prepared for that, don’t entertain the thought of having multiple dogs, and seriously consider whether you should even have one dog.
You may actually be a cat person.
