By George Messenger For the Monitor



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The beagle couldn't speak to her owner, but if she could have, she would have said something like "Please help me. I am suffering; I would rather not live like this. Please put me out of my misery or see if you can help me to feel better."

I wanted to keep that dog, and drain the fluid out of her abdomen and put her on diuretics and heart medications and give her a few months of better living, but it would have been unethical for me to do so. I can't be upset with this person for allowing the dog to reach such a state. It was obvious that she loved her dog, but she should have had her put to sleep before she could suffer for so long.

Here's an example of how it should be: Yesterday I had a good client bring a little parakeet to me. He is 10 years old, and they had noticed that he wasn't quite right - he was not using his legs properly and was having to use his beak more to get around in his cage; he wasn't as active and just seemed blah.

These clients have brought this bird to me every year for an annual exam and blood testing to check his health status. They also feed it a high-quality formulated diet and provide excellent loving care for the bird (and several others prior to this one). They spend time with him on Sundays, and they told me that their weekends would not be the same without his companionship. Even though their funds were tight, they allowed me to take x-rays and do blood work, and we were able to make a diagnosis and come up with a treatment plan. We just might be able to help this bird.

Many people in such a situation would look at how much they paid for the bird and would decide that it wasn't worth it. But these owners place value in their pet's life - far more value than what the bird cost. There should be no price tag on the value of a life.