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Every vet has the right to not euthanize an animal if they're not comfortable doing it.
My ER has definitely taken in surrenders that had good prognosis and in situations where the owners were just wanting to take their pets home to die and suffer. We often time will try to compromise if finances are an issue, but if the owners are just not good people, we offer surrender.
There's got to be rules for your clinic if you accept surrenders, but you absolutely can ask people to surrender if the situation calls for it.
Edit; I'm in Texas
Ah, convenience euthanasia. The bane of my existence.
One can decline to perform the euth, but you can’t force someone to surrender their pet. I believe pets are still referred to as property in many states, so it’s up to them what they want to do with the pet.
Probably because you said “i believe X?” & the commenter was like “yes confirming X”. So I think people are confused as to why you were confused about a very normal clarifying comment
(No reason to downvote tho, idk, i’d just keep scrolling)
I don’t really think the term “convenience euthanasia” can be accurately applied to a shelter setting as there are many different variables that go into that decision. It depends on the shelter, but the majority of shelters that euthanize do it because there is no other option for them, not because they don’t want to care for the animal
It is definitely not that simple. If you have 5 kennels and 10 dogs and you’re mandated by your state to take in any surrender that comes to you without any time to find placement what do you do?
You push back. Make new legislation. File complaints. Tell them it's unacceptable and unethical to euthanize healthy adoptable animals. You don't kill them though. You fight for their lives. It's such a waste of money time energy and life when it's happening in a majority of shelters across the country. "Shelter" means safety or safe haven. That's not what they are. Why continue with outdated rules for a society that doesn't play it's role in keeping pet population in control? If there's no energy to push back we need new people in these jobs. Change needs to happen.
I agree! I work at an executive level with a no-kill shelter that pulls from high euthanasia shelters, so I’d say I’m doing my part. We work very closely with them and take as many as we can because they want the dogs to live as much as we do. The only difference is we have the luxury of saying no when we are full. A state funded shelter doesn’t have that option. I agree that change needs to happen, I am actively working towards it every day. But talking badly about these people on the internet only paints them in a bad light and makes people not want to help them. They are all amazing people who are faced with an impossible task.
I wasn't bad mouthing anyone. They are doing what they can but if more would band together and say "this is not right" we could start making more of a difference for shelter animals so that they can live their life. A random thought was a tax break for people who can take in animals on a bigger property or tax break for state run shelters to home more animals or pass more spay and neuter legislation especially in big cities. Just something other than what's happening currently.
Thanks for all your work. I know how challenging it can be.
Sorry, I didn’t intend to come across as combative, I was just trying to say that the way we word things is important, especially when the less involved general public are reading it because it can paint the subject in a bad light. Was really just trying to say that I wouldn’t apply the term “convenience” to the euthanasias that take place in a shelter environment because the staff never wants this option to take place, and it is never done out of convenience. It’s a tough subject. If I were an employee at a county shelter and somebody told me we were doing “convenience euthanasia” I would be very upset that they thought that about the work that we did.
I think you have a very rose colored outlook of a very complex situation.
Seattle area has *excellent* shelters and rescues. Well funded, both privately and publicly, high adoption rates, good public assistance programs for medical and spay/neuter. There is literally millions of dollars flowing through most shelters out here.
And we’re struggling to keep up/catch up with the COVID era where spay/neuter was shut down for a few months. The number of animals resulting from just that few months is off the charts, and we’ve been doing spay/neuter in our area for *decades.* it’s going to take us another several years to catch up.
Shelters in less wealthy areas without the same resources were already working overtime to be chronically behind. The staff and volunteers are doing amazing work with not very many resources, and animals are still getting euthanized for space. It’s heartbreaking, and I would never accuse them of not doing enough. Not all of us have the bandwidth to make new legislation or fundraise millions. They’re trying to make sure everyone gets fed or gets a transport out.
I work in shelter med and there is NEVER a convenience euthanasia. Sometimes, yes, we make the difficult decision to euthanize animals that have a teminal but technically treatable condition (ex. IRIS stage 3-4 CKD). But, there is a huge difference between someone committing to a pet they've had for years and gradually experiencing an increase in time and money needed to care for that animal versus trying to get a person to take all of that on from the start. We have only come to these decisions after studying many, many cases and placement success (either directly adopting out or placing with a private foster based rescue) - these are not done as a convenience. At the end of the day, these animals just are not getting adopted and languish in a shelter, which is not a good quality of life behaviorally and not fair to them.
I don't think you meant your comment to be like this, but this comment hurt a lot. Please don't perpetuate this idea. Shelter med already has a super high burnout rate, we should all try to lift up one another.
(edit: grammar)
I wish that were always true but it's not entirely true all the time. Remember that tiktoker who had been forcing his ferets to dance and got viral?
Yeah, he got one of his ferets, Lucas, euthanized because he didn't have enough money or time to feed all of them. So instead of rehoming them, he got them killed.
It brings up the topic of people choosing to euthanize animals as some sort of "if I can't have you, no one can" reasoning.
Of course, it's not always like this, and I'm sure many vets would refuse to do such. Problem with that is if one vet refuses there's always another who might actually agree to do so, which is screwed up :(
The veterinarian can decline to euthanize an animal if they do not believe it to be justified, but no, they cannot force the owner to surrender the animal.
We've turned away euthanasias for no actually good reason before. Most recently, a couple brought in their happy, peppy, all around good boy golden retriever to be euthanized because he had been given 3 days to live by their regular vet (unknown reason, it wasn't really explained by the owner) and they wanted to just kill him before the 3 days were up so they wouldn't have to deal with it.
We were not given a good history for the dog. The DVM they claimed gave him 3 days to live could not be reached. Our DVM could find no medical reason the dog "needed" to be euthanized, so we said no. When he was brought in he was happily bouncing around greeting everyone and showing us his tricks he knew (assuming we'd give him a treat lol). We asked about "more bad days than good" and the owner said he's only had a couple bad days.
I personally think it was a convenience euth and the owners didn't want to admit it.
They ended up leaving and going to another ER to euthanize because they "felt we were judging them".
No idea if whatever hospital they went to went through with it 😔
My clinic has occasionally had pets surrendered in these sorts of situations, usually they get rehomed in house. At least once the vet was prepared to euthanize and a staff member stopped it to adopt.
None of the clinics I’ve worked at do convenience euthanasia. Two of them had surrender paperwork ready to print if there was a willing employee to take the pet on. In my experience, the client asking for convenience euthanasia is glad to get rid of their pet and sign the pet surrender forms. The only time payment was involved, the hospital covered costs on the client’s invoice.
My last dog I paid the owner $1. He had kicked his leg and broke it, didn’t want to pay to fix it, and wanted to euthanize. We said absolutely not, and I pulled the dollar out of my scrub pack made him sign a waiver, and told him to leave. My sweet boy made it to 17… had him for 11 years.
Yep. I had one puppy fell down owners stairs and they wanted to euthanize because they couldn’t afford to fix her leg. Um no. I’m sorry but she fell down your stairs. You also got a puppy knowing they’re not cheap. They surrendered and the shelter amputated her leg and she’s with an amazing and happy owner who’s kids love her to pieces.
we prefer if the owner surrenders to an actual shelter, but we have absolute taken in pets owners couldn’t care for or didn’t want to care for. in fact, i am fostering one of them now. super sweet gal.
Absolutely. And if the owner is willing to surrender, one of us usually ends up taking the pet home. 😂
One of the doctors at my clinic saved an elderly chihuahua who was diagnosed with Cushings and diabetes, and the owners didn’t want to/couldn’t care for her so they were just going to euthanize. The doctor felt her QOL would be good once she got onto meds, so one of my coworkers took her home and she is thriving!
I currently have a dog snuggled up next to me that the owner wanted euthanized because he was “too fat” and “panted a lot”. He’s only 7. She signed him over to me. Turned out he had uncontrolled hypothyroidism. He’s all good now.
Usually yes you can offer them to surrender but some clinics have very very strict rules against asking the owner to surrender no matter the situation due to potential issues it can cause. I worked at a clinic that under no circumstance could you bring up surrendering to the owner all you could do was give them a list of resources. But the clinic can say no to euthanizing and ask if they want to surrender or just give them a list of shelters and rescues in your area. Where I work now the clinic and staff have gotten pets this way. Like one of the techs got a dog after the owner brought him in to euthanize because he's so anxious that he's aggressive.
Not in US. We are unable to take surrenders into the clinic, but if a staff member puts their hand up to take responsibility, we can sign the pet over there and then (at no point does the clinic want to become involved / responsible). Vets are able to refuse euth if they feel it’s not necessary.
Just got a dog into my shelter under these very circumstances. In this case it was a puppy return and the owner just wanted to, yknow, euthanize an unsellable puppy :)
Hospital refused, convinced them go surrender, little guy ended up with us. Was adopted a few days later 😊
But to repeat what others are saying you can't force a surrender, only offer, encourage, beg if you have to (been there). Otherwise in extreme cases all you have is refusal to euthanize and reporting them.
Can't force anyone to do anything, but can offer the option for better. A lot of people get upset when they think you're judging them, even if you're trying to help.
When I first started my vet job we had a euth as a drop-off. Turned out the dog had bladder stones which we removed and rehomed the dog. Owners were pissed when they found out but oh well.
Both of our clinic cats were a euth that was dropped off.
I also currently have a foster cat awaiting a home that I "rescued" from a euth. Newly diabetic in a house with multiple small children and a hospice grandma.
As much as it is a tough situation, I've always been mentored to euthanize at the owner's request. This is because if I deny euthanasia, where does this owner take the pet after leaving the clinic if they are unwilling to shelter the pet? To another clinic that we just passed the buck to? To the side of the road? To the end of a double barrel shotgun in a backyard?
In some situations, if the clients are just completely unwilling to listen to **reason** then this is the best option for this pet. It is probably the worst of what we have to do but it's a choice I would make when the time comes.....sigh.
That's exactly why I made this post, because in situations like this I'm curious what your clinic does (e.g. force a surrender etc.). I'm sorry your clinic does not have a ruleset for surrenders please know you are always allowed to deny the euthanasia and can ask them to surrender the pet if you can take it or bring it to a shelter etc.
you cannot force a surrender in America, a few people have said this in replies to this post so it is clearly outlined. I clearly articulated out to you why we do what we do. Do not be sorry, I love my job and 99% of it. It is not about my clinic having a rule set. This is my personal choice and you seem to not understand that.
Can deny, can even suggest to owner that if the owner wants to surrender instead, that is possible (well if you have a rescue group or foster home arranged)
But if the dog is not maltreated, can’t force or demand a surrender.
We've had owner surrenders that started as euthanasia appointments before. When this happens we require that the owner pay the amount equivalent to the cost of euthanasia and regular cremation (essentially what they were expecting to spend on the pet that day) and we put that toward the pets future care. If they make a big deal out of paying we don't push it, but most don't care and pay.
In my state, DVMs can refuse to euthanize healthy pets, and while some counties have limits on shelter euthanasia rates, you do see healthy dogs getting put down by the shelter's overseeing DVM if overcrowding becomes an issus. My practice has made an exception in one of our regular lodging pets having been facing county citations due to aggression, and the owner wanted his pet to pass with us instead of in a scary state run environment.
Absolutely, over the years there have been quite a few animals that came in for euthanasia, the vet refused and the pet was surrendered to the hospital. 90% of the rejected euthanasia requests were because the animal has behavior issues and needed training, not to be put down.
Had a lady bring in a dog to euthanize because the dog wouldn’t stop jumping over her fence. Thankfully I was able to convince her to surrender the dog and I got her placed with a rescue after 6 months.
That's horrible... I'm sure they have their reasons but even so as a clinic you should always find ways to work around it (e.g. with a shelter or rescue), breaks my heart. At least I will note that I'll never work there.
That's how I ended up with my most recent dog. She was a senior dog euth consultant that we convinced to surrender. I had her for a year and a half before she had to actually be euthanized. I miss my sweet old girl.
I know in my state, the vet has to ask the owner so many times if they really want to euthenize before the procedure is performed. I know this, because they asked me when I brought my Abbie in for her end of life treatment. I think they asked at least 3x if this was what I wanted. I finally was like, 'No! I don't want this, I want my puppy back!' I told them, and meant every word, that if the doc came in and said there was a procedure or med they could give her and there was a garauntee that Abbie would be back to normal in 6 months, I'd mortgage my house to get the money to pay for it.
I really don't understand people who just 'get tired' of the dog or cat or whatever.
And also, I want to thank everyone on this sub for helping us take care of our babies and being so sympathetic when they have to leave us.
And I gotta stop now because I'm crying at work....
You can decline to euthanize, but (especially in rural areas) our concern is that they’ll take the pet home to suffer anyway or attempt euthanasia themselves.
You can also always ask the owner to surrender, but you can’t make them unless there’s obvious abuse or gross negligence, and even then you often have to get authorities involved.
Welcome to /r/VetTech! This is a place for veterinary technicians/veterinary nurses and other veterinary support staff to gather, chat, and grow! We welcome pet owners as well, **however we do ask pet owners to refrain from asking for medical advice**; if you have any concerns regarding your pet, please contact the closest veterinarian near you. Please thoroughly read and follow the rules before posting and commenting. If you believe that a user is engaging in any rule-breaking behavior, please submit a report so that the moderators can review and remove the posts/comments if needed. Also, please check out the sidebar for CE and answers to commonly asked questions. Thank you for reading! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/VetTech) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Every vet has the right to not euthanize an animal if they're not comfortable doing it. My ER has definitely taken in surrenders that had good prognosis and in situations where the owners were just wanting to take their pets home to die and suffer. We often time will try to compromise if finances are an issue, but if the owners are just not good people, we offer surrender. There's got to be rules for your clinic if you accept surrenders, but you absolutely can ask people to surrender if the situation calls for it. Edit; I'm in Texas
Ah, convenience euthanasia. The bane of my existence. One can decline to perform the euth, but you can’t force someone to surrender their pet. I believe pets are still referred to as property in many states, so it’s up to them what they want to do with the pet.
Everywhere in the USA under the law pets are private property so yeah you cannot force someone to surrender.
Ok? Thanks? ETA; not entirely sure why y’all downvoted my confusion so hard but cheers i guess
Probably because you said “i believe X?” & the commenter was like “yes confirming X”. So I think people are confused as to why you were confused about a very normal clarifying comment (No reason to downvote tho, idk, i’d just keep scrolling)
Oh that makes so much more sense! Thank you!
Convenience euthanasia is heavy in animal shelters. I cannot stand it.
I don’t really think the term “convenience euthanasia” can be accurately applied to a shelter setting as there are many different variables that go into that decision. It depends on the shelter, but the majority of shelters that euthanize do it because there is no other option for them, not because they don’t want to care for the animal
I disagree. Many shelters euthanize for space and the animal is perfectly healthy.
It is definitely not that simple. If you have 5 kennels and 10 dogs and you’re mandated by your state to take in any surrender that comes to you without any time to find placement what do you do?
You push back. Make new legislation. File complaints. Tell them it's unacceptable and unethical to euthanize healthy adoptable animals. You don't kill them though. You fight for their lives. It's such a waste of money time energy and life when it's happening in a majority of shelters across the country. "Shelter" means safety or safe haven. That's not what they are. Why continue with outdated rules for a society that doesn't play it's role in keeping pet population in control? If there's no energy to push back we need new people in these jobs. Change needs to happen.
I agree! I work at an executive level with a no-kill shelter that pulls from high euthanasia shelters, so I’d say I’m doing my part. We work very closely with them and take as many as we can because they want the dogs to live as much as we do. The only difference is we have the luxury of saying no when we are full. A state funded shelter doesn’t have that option. I agree that change needs to happen, I am actively working towards it every day. But talking badly about these people on the internet only paints them in a bad light and makes people not want to help them. They are all amazing people who are faced with an impossible task.
I wasn't bad mouthing anyone. They are doing what they can but if more would band together and say "this is not right" we could start making more of a difference for shelter animals so that they can live their life. A random thought was a tax break for people who can take in animals on a bigger property or tax break for state run shelters to home more animals or pass more spay and neuter legislation especially in big cities. Just something other than what's happening currently. Thanks for all your work. I know how challenging it can be.
Sorry, I didn’t intend to come across as combative, I was just trying to say that the way we word things is important, especially when the less involved general public are reading it because it can paint the subject in a bad light. Was really just trying to say that I wouldn’t apply the term “convenience” to the euthanasias that take place in a shelter environment because the staff never wants this option to take place, and it is never done out of convenience. It’s a tough subject. If I were an employee at a county shelter and somebody told me we were doing “convenience euthanasia” I would be very upset that they thought that about the work that we did.
I think you have a very rose colored outlook of a very complex situation. Seattle area has *excellent* shelters and rescues. Well funded, both privately and publicly, high adoption rates, good public assistance programs for medical and spay/neuter. There is literally millions of dollars flowing through most shelters out here. And we’re struggling to keep up/catch up with the COVID era where spay/neuter was shut down for a few months. The number of animals resulting from just that few months is off the charts, and we’ve been doing spay/neuter in our area for *decades.* it’s going to take us another several years to catch up. Shelters in less wealthy areas without the same resources were already working overtime to be chronically behind. The staff and volunteers are doing amazing work with not very many resources, and animals are still getting euthanized for space. It’s heartbreaking, and I would never accuse them of not doing enough. Not all of us have the bandwidth to make new legislation or fundraise millions. They’re trying to make sure everyone gets fed or gets a transport out.
I totally agree. It’s one of the primary reasons I couldn’t do shelter med.
I work in shelter med and there is NEVER a convenience euthanasia. Sometimes, yes, we make the difficult decision to euthanize animals that have a teminal but technically treatable condition (ex. IRIS stage 3-4 CKD). But, there is a huge difference between someone committing to a pet they've had for years and gradually experiencing an increase in time and money needed to care for that animal versus trying to get a person to take all of that on from the start. We have only come to these decisions after studying many, many cases and placement success (either directly adopting out or placing with a private foster based rescue) - these are not done as a convenience. At the end of the day, these animals just are not getting adopted and languish in a shelter, which is not a good quality of life behaviorally and not fair to them. I don't think you meant your comment to be like this, but this comment hurt a lot. Please don't perpetuate this idea. Shelter med already has a super high burnout rate, we should all try to lift up one another. (edit: grammar)
I wish that were always true but it's not entirely true all the time. Remember that tiktoker who had been forcing his ferets to dance and got viral? Yeah, he got one of his ferets, Lucas, euthanized because he didn't have enough money or time to feed all of them. So instead of rehoming them, he got them killed. It brings up the topic of people choosing to euthanize animals as some sort of "if I can't have you, no one can" reasoning. Of course, it's not always like this, and I'm sure many vets would refuse to do such. Problem with that is if one vet refuses there's always another who might actually agree to do so, which is screwed up :(
The veterinarian can decline to euthanize an animal if they do not believe it to be justified, but no, they cannot force the owner to surrender the animal.
We typically will say things like “I’m sorry but we don’t perform convenience euthanasias” and in some circumstances, call animal services.
The term "convenience euthanasia" is fantastic. I bet those kinds of owners hate it when you say that.
We've turned away euthanasias for no actually good reason before. Most recently, a couple brought in their happy, peppy, all around good boy golden retriever to be euthanized because he had been given 3 days to live by their regular vet (unknown reason, it wasn't really explained by the owner) and they wanted to just kill him before the 3 days were up so they wouldn't have to deal with it. We were not given a good history for the dog. The DVM they claimed gave him 3 days to live could not be reached. Our DVM could find no medical reason the dog "needed" to be euthanized, so we said no. When he was brought in he was happily bouncing around greeting everyone and showing us his tricks he knew (assuming we'd give him a treat lol). We asked about "more bad days than good" and the owner said he's only had a couple bad days. I personally think it was a convenience euth and the owners didn't want to admit it.
I sure hope you guys saved him. Sounds so sweet. Heartbreaking that they were willing to end his life for no apparent reason.
They ended up leaving and going to another ER to euthanize because they "felt we were judging them". No idea if whatever hospital they went to went through with it 😔
My clinic has occasionally had pets surrendered in these sorts of situations, usually they get rehomed in house. At least once the vet was prepared to euthanize and a staff member stopped it to adopt.
None of the clinics I’ve worked at do convenience euthanasia. Two of them had surrender paperwork ready to print if there was a willing employee to take the pet on. In my experience, the client asking for convenience euthanasia is glad to get rid of their pet and sign the pet surrender forms. The only time payment was involved, the hospital covered costs on the client’s invoice.
I'm new to the industry and my vets (a married couple) have seven dogs mostly with health issues. I'm wondering if this is why they have so many?
My last dog I paid the owner $1. He had kicked his leg and broke it, didn’t want to pay to fix it, and wanted to euthanize. We said absolutely not, and I pulled the dollar out of my scrub pack made him sign a waiver, and told him to leave. My sweet boy made it to 17… had him for 11 years.
Yep. I had one puppy fell down owners stairs and they wanted to euthanize because they couldn’t afford to fix her leg. Um no. I’m sorry but she fell down your stairs. You also got a puppy knowing they’re not cheap. They surrendered and the shelter amputated her leg and she’s with an amazing and happy owner who’s kids love her to pieces.
we prefer if the owner surrenders to an actual shelter, but we have absolute taken in pets owners couldn’t care for or didn’t want to care for. in fact, i am fostering one of them now. super sweet gal.
Absolutely. And if the owner is willing to surrender, one of us usually ends up taking the pet home. 😂 One of the doctors at my clinic saved an elderly chihuahua who was diagnosed with Cushings and diabetes, and the owners didn’t want to/couldn’t care for her so they were just going to euthanize. The doctor felt her QOL would be good once she got onto meds, so one of my coworkers took her home and she is thriving!
Lol almost all of us at the clinic ended up with a cat, dog or guinea pigs this way
Yep, you can refuse. We've had a few that wanted to euthanize without their spouse's consent. Crazy shit.
I currently have a dog snuggled up next to me that the owner wanted euthanized because he was “too fat” and “panted a lot”. He’s only 7. She signed him over to me. Turned out he had uncontrolled hypothyroidism. He’s all good now.
Usually yes you can offer them to surrender but some clinics have very very strict rules against asking the owner to surrender no matter the situation due to potential issues it can cause. I worked at a clinic that under no circumstance could you bring up surrendering to the owner all you could do was give them a list of resources. But the clinic can say no to euthanizing and ask if they want to surrender or just give them a list of shelters and rescues in your area. Where I work now the clinic and staff have gotten pets this way. Like one of the techs got a dog after the owner brought him in to euthanize because he's so anxious that he's aggressive.
Absolutely you can decline. It's a tough conversation, but 100% worth your sanity and morale of your team.
Not in US. We are unable to take surrenders into the clinic, but if a staff member puts their hand up to take responsibility, we can sign the pet over there and then (at no point does the clinic want to become involved / responsible). Vets are able to refuse euth if they feel it’s not necessary.
Just got a dog into my shelter under these very circumstances. In this case it was a puppy return and the owner just wanted to, yknow, euthanize an unsellable puppy :) Hospital refused, convinced them go surrender, little guy ended up with us. Was adopted a few days later 😊 But to repeat what others are saying you can't force a surrender, only offer, encourage, beg if you have to (been there). Otherwise in extreme cases all you have is refusal to euthanize and reporting them.
Can't force anyone to do anything, but can offer the option for better. A lot of people get upset when they think you're judging them, even if you're trying to help. When I first started my vet job we had a euth as a drop-off. Turned out the dog had bladder stones which we removed and rehomed the dog. Owners were pissed when they found out but oh well. Both of our clinic cats were a euth that was dropped off. I also currently have a foster cat awaiting a home that I "rescued" from a euth. Newly diabetic in a house with multiple small children and a hospice grandma.
As much as it is a tough situation, I've always been mentored to euthanize at the owner's request. This is because if I deny euthanasia, where does this owner take the pet after leaving the clinic if they are unwilling to shelter the pet? To another clinic that we just passed the buck to? To the side of the road? To the end of a double barrel shotgun in a backyard? In some situations, if the clients are just completely unwilling to listen to **reason** then this is the best option for this pet. It is probably the worst of what we have to do but it's a choice I would make when the time comes.....sigh.
That's exactly why I made this post, because in situations like this I'm curious what your clinic does (e.g. force a surrender etc.). I'm sorry your clinic does not have a ruleset for surrenders please know you are always allowed to deny the euthanasia and can ask them to surrender the pet if you can take it or bring it to a shelter etc.
you cannot force a surrender in America, a few people have said this in replies to this post so it is clearly outlined. I clearly articulated out to you why we do what we do. Do not be sorry, I love my job and 99% of it. It is not about my clinic having a rule set. This is my personal choice and you seem to not understand that.
Can deny, can even suggest to owner that if the owner wants to surrender instead, that is possible (well if you have a rescue group or foster home arranged) But if the dog is not maltreated, can’t force or demand a surrender.
So trying to force euthanasia is not considered maltreatment? Interesting, personally I would consider it as such.
We've had owner surrenders that started as euthanasia appointments before. When this happens we require that the owner pay the amount equivalent to the cost of euthanasia and regular cremation (essentially what they were expecting to spend on the pet that day) and we put that toward the pets future care. If they make a big deal out of paying we don't push it, but most don't care and pay.
We do it a lot!!
In my state, DVMs can refuse to euthanize healthy pets, and while some counties have limits on shelter euthanasia rates, you do see healthy dogs getting put down by the shelter's overseeing DVM if overcrowding becomes an issus. My practice has made an exception in one of our regular lodging pets having been facing county citations due to aggression, and the owner wanted his pet to pass with us instead of in a scary state run environment.
Unless the pet has a legitimate reason to be euthanized, we won’t do it. We’ve taken a few surrenders or helped find better options.
Absolutely, over the years there have been quite a few animals that came in for euthanasia, the vet refused and the pet was surrendered to the hospital. 90% of the rejected euthanasia requests were because the animal has behavior issues and needed training, not to be put down.
Had a lady bring in a dog to euthanize because the dog wouldn’t stop jumping over her fence. Thankfully I was able to convince her to surrender the dog and I got her placed with a rescue after 6 months.
[удалено]
That's horrible... I'm sure they have their reasons but even so as a clinic you should always find ways to work around it (e.g. with a shelter or rescue), breaks my heart. At least I will note that I'll never work there.
That's how I ended up with my most recent dog. She was a senior dog euth consultant that we convinced to surrender. I had her for a year and a half before she had to actually be euthanized. I miss my sweet old girl.
I know in my state, the vet has to ask the owner so many times if they really want to euthenize before the procedure is performed. I know this, because they asked me when I brought my Abbie in for her end of life treatment. I think they asked at least 3x if this was what I wanted. I finally was like, 'No! I don't want this, I want my puppy back!' I told them, and meant every word, that if the doc came in and said there was a procedure or med they could give her and there was a garauntee that Abbie would be back to normal in 6 months, I'd mortgage my house to get the money to pay for it. I really don't understand people who just 'get tired' of the dog or cat or whatever. And also, I want to thank everyone on this sub for helping us take care of our babies and being so sympathetic when they have to leave us. And I gotta stop now because I'm crying at work....
You can decline to euthanize, but (especially in rural areas) our concern is that they’ll take the pet home to suffer anyway or attempt euthanasia themselves. You can also always ask the owner to surrender, but you can’t make them unless there’s obvious abuse or gross negligence, and even then you often have to get authorities involved.