Thank you, Joe. You are absolutely right. I used the term out of
habit, not stopping to think about the distinction you note.

Very true. I use the term mostly out of habit, when I also know it's a misuse
of the word. I think it wouldn't hurt to start using "kill" in front of John Q.
Public. It's not a pretty word, but it's the bald truth and just might jolt
somebody into the reality of the situation.
Sherry

It's not good and it's not right, and I certainly wish it never had to
happen.  But death by lethal injection is more *humane* than death on
the streets, death by prolonged disease, death by dog or other
predator, being hit by cars, or shot or maimed by a human.  It is even
preferrable to prolonged life in a cage.  No, it isn't euthanasia, in
the proper meaning of the word, but it is better than the
alternatives.

-L.

Maybe if everyone used the correct terms that describes exactly what it is,
more people would be outraged and sickened enough to force legislation to
eliminate it -- like mandatory neuter before adoption or sale (health
permiting) and subsidize vets or give them a tax deduction for neutering all
animals in their care regardless of the owners' consent or ability to pay.

I use the terms "excecute", "put to death", "slaughter"... because they
stick in peoples' throats and are much harder to swallow than "put to sleep"
or euthanize" or "put down".

It's still ending their life before the natural bodily functions would have
stopped on their own. It's killing, either way. The point is the prevention
of further suffering, and this DOES include aggressive animals that would
otherwise sit in a kennel.

What is happening in shelters all over is they are KILLING

Yes, a large part of it has to do with the lack of spaying and neutering.
But damned near as much of it has to do with irresponsible people who dump
their pets on overcrowded shelters for trivial reasons (moving, new baby,
too big, no time, etc).

A lot of shelters apparently have a reputation for euthanizing strays as
soon as their legal holding period is over. NOT every shelter does this.

And continue to let people think that killing animals is the sole purpose of
shelters and humane societies. One of my coworkers was out a month or so
ago, and someone struck up a conversation with her, asking what she did for
a living. When she replied that she worked for the humane society, he asked,
"Oh, so you kill animals for a living?" THAT --IS-- the general attitude of
the public.

By the way, not every shelter still uses the time-limit criteria for
euthanasia.

On a more personal note (which explains why this subject is so intensely
irritating), as a certified euthanasia tech, I helped with my first euth
today. Four of them, actually. A pit who had attacked two cats, an ancient
husky with severe handling issues, an absolutely petrified pit, and a
chow/gsd mix that leaned on ME when he got woozy. See, I'd played ball with
him in the play-yards on several occasions. I liked that dog a great deal,
despite his issues. But he HAD those issues, and we cannot put a dog up for
adoption that will bite if someone reaches toward his food dish, or
distrusts men completely and barely trusts women. And he was euthanized. Not
killed. You know why there's that difference in wording for the people who
actually work in this field, Joe? Because frankly, if we look at it as
killing, slaughtering, whatever you'd like to call it, it would be
impossible for us to do. But if we call it euthanasia, we remember that we
put them to sleep, end their suffering, and prevent injury to other animals
and other people. We take on that emotional burden and the extra heartbreak
that already fills a very emotionally difficult line of work. YOU try to
settle it in your mind when a terrified dog trusts you in his last moments
with knowing that this dog won't injure anyone, and he won't have to sit in
a kennel for another day, just waiting on someone else to do it. YOU try to
be grateful that at least in his last moments, someone was with him who
cared and cried for him.

And if this was all about animal control facilities that don't adopt out?
Tell your presenter to cough up the money to build a shelter in that area,
then. And pay the staff that takes care of the animals, or the vets that
perform the spays and neuters. Because there's no goddamned room in any
existing shelter for those 60,000 kittens and puppies of which you spoke.
Ask him how many foster animals he's housed in the last six months. It's
very easy to preach, much more difficult to practice.

Now I'm done ranting, because I've had a long day. It's time to finish a
book and be comforted by my cats.

~Kal.