A twisted selfish love

[ShreddedOakAviary]

I am over at my in laws farm today making some repairs to an old wagon we plan to use behind our draft horse team. It has a metal pole we are taking off so that we can take it back to our farm and weld some repairs. Now, to the point of this post... my mother in law has a nearly 30 year old horse named Smokie. Smokiewas diagnosed with cancer a few years back. He also has the worst case of arthritis I've ever seen. He is thin because he won't maintain weight without a special diet (due to the cancer). He is death thin today, can barely walk, holds his head low when he walks and actual weaves from side to Sade as he moves as if he's dizzy. For three years this has gone on, at one point I came over daily to feed him supplements and anti inflammatories to help him look and feel better. I've begged the vet to give me a euthanasia shot to put him down, but the vets by law cannot. I've begged my mother in law to put him down.... her answer... "I love him and I'm not ready to let him go yet" she also says she plans to fatten him up to take some last photos before she puts him down. Today he is so bad that I'm tempted to go grab a rifle and so what he seems to be begging me to do. The local law is not an option... they will do nothing, and when she gets back home I plan to have another serious talk with her about how selfish she is being. I thought about taking a photo of him and sharing it here, but it's not something for the weak stomached to see. For the sake of that poor horse I've got to do something. I love my horses and animals, but when the time comes we always make the tough choice before that suffer for long. This poor guy can hardly move and he is quickly starving to death. I'm disgusted, and my mother in law and I hate eachother and so this only makes matters worse.

 

[Mare Miller]

My husband and I have dealt with old age in animal issues over the years. I have to agree with you, if the animal is suffering, do it a favor and let it go.

We just had to put one of our dogs down, he was 18yrs. old and going strong till about two months ago. He will forever be in our hearts, every time I type in my password, I think of him.

 

[roxynoodle]

Yes, I'm a believer in putting down old, suffering animals when they get to the point that their life is no longer joyful at all. I also think people should be allowed that choice for themselves as well.

My mother though tries for force them to go on and on past the point where they can't walk anymore, and then she will feed them by hand. She gets very upset with me for putting an animal down. Even my dogs who were riddled with cancer and had no life left in their eyes. She thought I should just wait until they died on their own, even though they could no longer eat or even breathe decently.

 

[cdog]

I hate to see animals suffer and to see people not putting them out of their missery. The best thing for him would be to put him down. He is ready to go and I'm sure he will love you even more for doing it.
I wish you the best of luck with convincing your in law.

 

[Mayden]

Shoot it. If tensions are already high and you won't get punished legally for it (and if you did, you could argue it's cause) then you know the right thing to do is get that poor baby out of the sorry state it is in. Could you pm me the picture please? I'd like to see it, I hate not having a face to a name.

Owners have a responsibility to the animal, I can't believe it's been so long and in such a bad condition, I understand at first it's very hard, but surely when you see it begin to suffer so much, you know it's the right thing to do. Would you keep your poor child alive cancer ridden, chronic pain and wasting away? No, you would tell the doctors to pull the plug. The poor baby, what does your other half think?

 

[Mare Miller]

I agree with you Roxy, humans should also have the choice. I've planned my own demise when the time comes.

 

[roxynoodle]

I had to make a living will. I'm pretty sure based on what my mom does to her animals that if I were in a motorcycle crash or something she would insist on keeping me alive even if I were brain dead or a vegetable.

And yes, many people got upset with me over this, but when I was told I had pancreatic cancer I decided to wait until they were sure, and then just take care of business the best I could and end it myself. I didn't have cancer, thankfully, but I already know it's a very horrid way to die, and didn't want that even if it upset others.

 

[luvmytooo]

I would shoot him too. No way could I let this animal suffer any longer.
I'm sorry you are in this mess too. Your mother in law can't really love this animal that much if she can wake up everyday and watch this animal suffer.
Why not shoot him and then cover up the wound and say you found him dead ?
I hate to sound this cruel ,but it's best for Smokie.
Or say he had a broken leg and you had to do it. The after he is gone .......leg ?
I never thought I would ever talk like this ! But we all understand the reasoning behind it.
I had to let my horse go and it was the hardest thing I had to do in my life !!
My Dad had gotten her for me when we were both young , she was over 24 years when I put her down , and my Dad was long gone ,so it was like losing him all over again.
It's a tough thing to do , but I couldn't let her suffer , not my girl.

 

[roxynoodle]

Well, it's a controversial subject. Some people feel they are committing murder. You really can't hate them for feeling that way even though you hate seeing the animal suffer.

So even though my mother has different beliefs than I do, what can I say? Am I right and she's wrong? Certainly she sees it the other way around.

 

[HalfInsane]

I don't understand letting an animal linger like that. Quite frankly, if I were terminally ill, I'd want to have the ability to end it when I felt I'd had enough. I did have to see my one and a half year old dog put down though. That was rough. He had an inoperable brain tumor, and it was only a matter of time until he had a grandmal seizure and died (a horrible way to go). But he was still so young and healthy.... we did it so he didn't die a painful death (you literally suffocate since your lungs seize up) but it was just... awful. Sickening. I can describe the guilt, even though I know it was best. I would understand someone struggling with that. To see him you'd never know he was sick, which was the worst part.

An old animal though, who is clearly ill, suffering, and has had a long life... its hard, but you're only prolonging the inevitable, and that's not fair.

 

[roxynoodle]

I don't understand letting an animal linger like that. Quite frankly, if I were terminally ill, I'd want to have the ability to end it when I felt I'd had enough. I did have to see my one and a half year old dog put down though. That was rough. He had an inoperable brain tumor, and it was only a matter of time until he had a grandmal seizure and died (a horrible way to go). But he was still so young and healthy.... we did it so he didn't die a painful death (you literally suffocate since your lungs seize up) but it was just... awful. Sickening. I can describe the guilt, even though I know it was best. I would understand someone struggling with that. To see him you'd never know he was sick, which was the worst part.

An old animal though, who is clearly ill, suffering, and has had a long life... its hard, but you're only prolonging the inevitable, and that's not fair.

As hard as it was for you though to be there, you did the right thing for your companion by being there. At least the last thing he saw was someone he loved, who loved him.

 

[luvmytooo]

Oh , yes , it's definitely a controversial subject .
But no matter how both party feels about it , the animals rights have to come first. IMO.

 

[roxynoodle]

Oh , yes , it's definitely a controversial subject .
But no matter how both party feels about it , the animals rights have to come first. IMO.

The problem of course is that we can't ask them what they want. We have to decide for them based on how we perceive they feel.

Just saying, how I feel about it isn't necessarily how others see it. It's just one of those really hard things we have to think about as we go through life I guess. And make a decision based on our own personal beliefs.

Since we can ask people though (not always; hence a living will), I do think people should definitely be able to decide for themselves. I don't really understand why others see this as so wrong if a person in his/her right mind is making that decision for themselves. And I guess for that matter a mentally ill person is suffering as well, and chances are they have tried medications and therapy for years already; maybe they should also be able to decide this for themselves.

Ok, I need to shut up before I upset someone here.

 

[luvmytooo]

I completely understand your way of thinking Roxy and I don't disagree with you.
It is very controversial. But if there is proof of suffering , then I feel it should be handled in a humane way. But , in the end , the owner has the last word .

 

[Sadie]

Honestly, i was against euthanizing unless an animal was traumatically injured (burned, hit by car, attacked by another animal ect) and could no way be saved. As far as old age i strongly felt they knew when it was time and it wasnt our place to decide...until crystal.
She was my moms dog. My mom died unexpectedly when i was 15. My grandmother took it very hard loosing a child and tool crystal as a little trinket of my mom. She was a little bichon. My grandmother felt it was the last piece of my mom and she let her suffer until she was 19 and would fall into seizure down stairs, suffered incontinence and was so arthritis ridden she couldnt move, and when she did you could see how much pain she was in. The dog was a walking corpse before a group of us got together and MADE her take the dog in to be put down! So now i do think there comes a point where you just need to help them let go. If you can legally get away with it so the horse a favor....She will grieve the same whether its tomorrow or 2 months from now. let the healing process began and set the poor horse free...

 

[ShreddedOakAviary]

I am going to appeal to mu father in law tomorrow... he's a reasonable man and agreed two years ago that this horse was suffering terribly and he tries to talk my mother on law into reason. Smokie is so far beyond miserable that I'll probably have nightmares tonight. He looks like a walking skeleton with fur... his eyes are dull and every step is clearly agonizing.

 

[lene1949]

I think that quality of life is the most important thing for animals and humans... If they don't have quality of life, the kindest thing is to put them to sleep...

I hope one day we can give the same kindness to humans as we have been able to do for animals for a very long time...

 

[aliray]

I don't know where your from but what about notifying the humane society or animal shelter or aspca, whatever is available. they should be able to seize the horse and have it humanely euthanised. Alison and Sweetie Pie