What about putting animals down?

[fermat]

My wife and I have a very old dog. There is nothing really wrong with her, she is just old and is very high maintenance. We also have three kids with one on the way and the dog takes a disproportional amount of time.

We have tried to give her away without much luck and have talked about putting her down. At the end of the day, having an old dog is a lot of work and this seems like a simple solution; however, if you replace the word dog with person that is the exact argument many euthanasia advocates use.

So here is the question(s): Does the Church have a teaching (or as Jimmy might say, a teachin’) about euthanizing animals? Or does the superiority that God gave man over the animals render a euthanasia parallel invalid?

Thanks!
Fermat

 

[Fr.Vincent_Serpa]

Hi,

Your question is a sign of the times. When I was young such a question would never come up. It was common knowledge that animals are animals and do not have immortal souls.

Today animals are so often elevated to the level of humans–and humans are reduced to animals as in the matter of euthanasia and abortion. The Church would NEVER replace the word “dog” for “human” or “human” for “dog,” nor should we.

The teaching of the Church remains consistent. We are to treat animals humanely. But they do not come under the moral standards we have for treating humans. Taking care of your family is infinitely more important than nursing an old animal. To put it down humanely is definitely allowed.

Fr. Vincent Serpa, O.P.