Euthanasia
I have kept a dog who has been suffering
from a fatal disease for a long time. If it was willing to be cured, it would
live longer. However, it would absolutely go through weeks and months of pain
and suffering. I didn’t want to burden my parents with the finances for the dog
although they still love it. A vet also said that the dog would need much care
if it survived. I faced the dilemma of deciding my dog’s life. The issue of
mercy-killing has been a controversial issue all over the world. Some people
think mercy-killing is necessary while others not. In my opinion, I think it
should be essential for a few reasons.
In the first place, if I could live longer
but suffer a lot of pain, I would rather choose mercy-killing. For me,
mercy-killing can get the patient free from pain without being tortured with so
many days. If terminal patients encounter a long, slow, painful death,
definitely it is much better to spare them this kind of suffering and allow
them to end their life with comfort. They also have the right to choose they
want to die or not. Mercy-killing is another way to bring one’s life to a
dignified end.
In the second place, I think the one of the
greatest advantages is that euthanasia reduces the spread of diseases. There
might be a chance that a contagious agent exists within the host and then
disperses the virus. It may cause various diseases that animal would suffer.
The longer the duration that the individual is kept alive, the higher chance
that others would be affected by the disease if the one is not handled
properly. Euthanasia can curb the spread of the illness.
At last, if you were in an extremely fatal
condition, you might suffer at lot. On the other hand, how about your
relatives? They must feel very depressed that you would deteriorate day by day.
If you could undergo euthanasia and pass away without any pain, maybe it would spare
their agony. Euthanasia is not just a thing about patients, but a serious thing
between the patients and their relatives.
From what has been discussed above, you can
get your preference. Personally, I think mercy-killing has more advantages. It
relieves suffering and reduces the spread of diseases. Last but not least, it
can ease the pressure and grief from the relatives. After consulting a vet, we
decided to practice euthanasia on my beloved pet to let it go. Let the vet put
it down so it could rest in peace. I reminded the saying written by Milan
Kundera – “Dogs do not have many advantages over people, but one of them is
extremely important: Euthanasia is not forbidden by law in their case; animals
have the right to a merciful death.”
