WELFARE - The Causes and Costs of Convenience Euthanasia

“Convenience euthanasia” is an upsetting term and a tragic event.

Convenience euthanasia, also called “healthy euthanasia,” is what happens when owners are no longer willing, or sometimes able, to care for a healthy pet and opt to euthanize rather than re-home.

Many vets refuse to perform convenience euthanasia.

Didsbury Veterinary Services in Alberta, Canada, state the following: “We accept that euthanasia is part of the deal we make with our pets when we take them in to our lives. We have a responsibility to ensure that they do not suffer. Having said that, we do not think it is acceptable practice of veterinary medicine to euthanize a pet just because it is inconvenient to own it any longer.”

This mirrors the views of other vets, such as Dr. Hauser, who refused to euthanize a relatively healthy young Lab despite the fact that the dog would most likely be euthanized by someone else.

Responding to that case, Dr. Marc Rosenberg, VMD, said, “Speaking personally, I won't euthanize a pet with a potential viable option for relocation. I have to sleep at night. On the other hand, I will euthanize a pet that is reasonably healthy but has no options for a caring home. My goal is to see that my patients are not frightened and not in pain.”

The emotional cost to vets of convenience euthanasia is significant, and may be a contributor to the high rates of depression and suicidality within the profession.

However, some vets continue to offer convenience euthanasia because it can be the “least worst” option, according to veterinarian Pete Wedderburn in The Telegraph.

A refusal could mean that the animal is taken to another vet, who will perform the euthanasia. Or it could mean the animal is taken to a country road and abandoned, or worse.

Sean Wensley, the President of the British Veterinary Association, notes that, “Euthanasing an animal who could have been a loving pet is the hidden, tragic cost of poor socialisation.”

The BVA has found that a significant majority of vets have been asked to perform a healthy euthanasia, and that of these, 98% of requests were due to behavioural issues, many of which could have been prevented with proper socialization and training.

This issue has been in the press in Canada recently, with animal advocacy groups lobbying for new legislation that would make it illegal to euthanize healthy pets.

Camille Labchuk, an animal rights lawyer and executive director of Animal Justice, speaking to The Globe and Mail, said, "If a child is in a situation where the parents can no longer care for that child whether the parents have financial issues, mental health issues, or they die, the government steps in and the state supports that child. Why we wouldn't do the same thing for vulnerable animals is beyond me."

Although pets are slowly gaining new legal standing in various jurisdictions, including Canada, they are still considered a form of property.

And recent legal cases in Canada have made it clear that the extension of rights and protections assigned to children will be a challenging process.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

WELFARE - Wrongful Deaths and Civil Suits

(Vern, courtesy Tim Reeves)

In 2014, Officer Rodney Price of the Anne Arundel County police service shot and killed Vern, a four-year-old Chesapeake Bay retriever.

The shooting is one of many such incidents, but this one is notable because three years later a jury has awarded Vern’s family $1.26 million in damages.

This amount includes $500,000 in monetary damages and $760,000 for the anguish the family suffered as a result of the shooting.

The question of how to handle pet deaths caused by police officers is a fraught issue in contemporary America.

Late last year a federal court determined that officers are justified in shooting dogs that bark or move during a police raid.

And, earlier this year, a federal judge rejected a request to dismiss a lawsuit filed after an officer shot and killed a dog who charged at him when he entered a yard to search for a missing child.

The courts seem undecided on how to handle situations of pet deaths, and that ambiguity is likely to remain a factor for quite some time.

Pets are in a shifting legal position right now, no longer considered mere property but still not given the same consideration under the law that a person would be.

Some legal scholars have proposed that animals be treated as “living property,” which would introduce a new legal category of property and would afford non-human animals legal rights.

Austria, Germany, and Switzerland all have legislation that defines animals as something other than property, but none of these countries take the legislation so far as to consider animals persons under the law.

Personhood under the law doesn’t necessarily mean that fewer dogs would be killed, or that their families would more easily or consistently receive compensation.

America’s grappling with police shootings and wrongful deaths extend far beyond the many animals shot and killed each year, and the $1.26 million damages awarded following Vernon’s death stand in stark contrast to other recent lawsuit settlements.

Last month, a Cook County jury awarded $350,000 in damages after ruling that the police shooting of Christian Green, a 17-year-old black teen, was unjustified.

A 2014 report by the Washington Post found that municipalities pay out millions of dollars settling lawsuits related to police abuse, and a 2015 report by the same paper highlighted the uneven results of civil suits.

Some claimants receive awards in the millions, and some receive nothing.

There are many factors that influence how, and whether, families receive financial compensation following a wrongful death, but often these cases require proof of improper training or past misconduct.

The issue of wrongful police killings of humans, which disproportionately impact racialized communities in both America and Canada, is a separate issue from that of police shootings of dogs.

But they share an element in common – these killings are often committed by police officers who have not received adequate training in de-escalation, threat assessment, and non-lethal response.

Officers have been trained to use force first, and efforts to move to de-escalation training (which could reduce avoidable deaths), has met some resistance.

Although civil lawsuits offer families some compensation following these tragic deaths, no dollar amount can be sufficient.

There remains a need to teach officers how to respond more effectively to perceived threats.

In 2013, following Vern’s death, owner Tim Reeves questioned the safety of an officer discharging his weapon in a residential neighbourhood. He said, “I’m just glad it wasn’t a person.”

Unfortunately, sometimes, it is a person.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

WELFARE - Addressing Police Shootings of Family Pets

In America, police shootings of family pets, particularly dogs, have been called an “epidemic” by some experts.

According to the ASPCA, “public records of firearms discharges by police indicate that it is common for 50% or more of all shooting incidents to involve an officer shooting a dog.”

Although exact numbers are impossible to determine since they are not tracked, estimates range from several hundred to several thousand family-owned dogs killed by police each year.

Many of these killings were unnecessary, and may have resulted from a lack of adequate training in understanding and responding to animals.

The Community Oriented Police Services (COPS) department of the United States Department of Justice is hoping to address the issue through a new training protocol designed to give officers better skills.

The training is particularly relevant now that the Sixth Circuit has ruled that officers can shoot a dog for moving or barking during a police raid.

This ruling does not sit well with some Detroit citizens.

Detroit police have faced multiple lawsuits recently from dog owners whose pets have been killed, including a dog who was behind a closed door, and one dog who was tethered in the backyard of someone who was not a suspect in the case.

It’s not only Detroit with a problem.

According to a police officer speaking to Cracked, it’s not uncommon for police officers to have an intense fear of dogs.

The new COPS training protocol will hopefully help with this, particularly now that American police have greater legal sanction to use lethal force against dogs.

Other jurisdictions have not had the same widespread public outcry against police shootings of pet dogs (the Puppycide Database attempts to track police killings of pet dogs in America and to help pet owners advocate for their rights).

However, there have been instances of questionable police killings of pet dogs in Canada, as well.

In one well-publicized incident an elderly dog was run over twice before being shot.

In another, RCMP officers shot a dog during a raid.

According to Cynthia Bathurst, the Executive Director of Safe Humane, and the content producer for the COPS training program, “The goal is to introduce options and strategies that will deescalate encounters with dogs.”

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.

WELFARE - Developing Great Foster Programs, Webinars

Foster programs have grown and evolved over the years - beginning as an option to relieve the pressure on overflowing shelters, to an opportunity to address behaviour and training issues, to organizations that are foster-only and have no facility.

Now, fostering has become vital to the success of animal welfare and rescue organizations and an essential component of their business.

ASPCA Professional offers a variety of webinars to help organizations build and maximize their foster program.

Foster Programs: Animal Selection & Family Recruitment covers:

• Recruiting foster families
• Choosing the best animals for foster care
• Assigning animals to foster homes
• Paperwork and systems to track animals
• Scheduling foster recheck appointments
• Sending supplies to foster animals
• Retention and engagement of foster volunteers.

Part two of the series, Making Your Foster Program Thrive: Preventing Mt. Kitten, has representatives from Charleston Animal Society explain what they offer fosters including:

• Education
• Supplies
• Training and foster care manuals (sample manuals will be provided)
• Veterinary care, including spay/neuter surgery and emergency care
• Spay/neuter events, including a pre-kitten season event
• Promotions and marketing support.

Organizations that adopt through their foster homes may be interested in the Foster-based Adoptions webinar.

Since 1998, Seattle Animal Shelter has mobilized and empowered a team of foster parents to adopt animals directly from their homes.

In the webinar their experts discuss how to:

• Set up a foster program structure
• Use volunteer case managers
• Select animals for foster
• Run a foster-based adoption process.

BUSINESS - PIJAC Canada Announces Retailer Award for Animal Welfare

Not only is PIJAC Canada hosting their first Western Canadian Pet Industry Trade Show, they will be presenting the inaugural Animal Welfare is Everyone's BusinessTM – Retail Award (Western) at the event.

The award will highlight the work of dedicated and passionate pet retail businesses in the areas of animal well-being and the promotion of responsible pet ownership.

PIJAC’s goal is to shine a light on the efforts of the people in the pet retail industry and to inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

"For the last 5 years we have been sharing stories about the efforts of businesses who go the extra mile to educate people about responsible pet ownership and help to create positive pet experiences," Louis McCann, association President & CEO, said in a release.

"With the advent of our new Western Canadian Pet Industry Trade Show we felt it was the perfect time to launch this award. It is our hope this award will also become a vehicle for you to celebrate your accomplishments, inspire others and share your stories with the public at large."

Manufacturers and Distributors can submit nominations for the Retail Award (Western) online to PIJAC Canada by May 1st.

Successful nominees will be announced May 9th and PIJAC Canada members, pre-registered show visitors and Western Cdn. Pet Industry Trade Show exhibitors will be eligible to vote online until May 23rd.

Award Criteria:

1. Must be a pet specialty retailer in  one of the following provinces, BC, AB, SK, MB or Territories
2. Must be a brick and mortar location
3. Promotes responsible pet ownership in the store and community ie - take home information packages, after-sale care program, care workshops, school visits, etc.
4. Supports pet families in the community ie - pet food bank, raising awareness of issues impacting pets in the community, assisting other animal organizations, etc.
5. Any other general community support activities

The Retail Award (Western) is the first of many.

PIJAC Canada will be awarding retailers in other parts of the country at ExpoZoo and the National Pet Industry Trade Show.

They will also expand the Animal Welfare is Everyone's Business™ awards to include pet services, manufacturers and distributors in 2018.

WELFARE - City of Calgary Recognized by Nature Canada

Nature Canada, Canada’s oldest national nature conservation charity, presented their inaugural Safe Cats Safe Birds Award to the City of Calgary for its progressive municipal policy that keeps cats safe and saves bird lives.

“Our Keep Cats Safe and Save Bird Lives national campaign asks Canadian cat owners to join a growing movement of people who keep their cats supervised if they go outdoors. Unsupervised outdoor cats are at considerable danger from collisions with cars, fights with wildlife, diseases and poisons and are responsible for an estimated 100 to 350 million bird deaths a year in Canada,” said Eleanor Fast, Executive Director for Nature Canada.

“The City of Calgary’s Responsible Pet Ownership Bylaw is a model for other municipalities to follow.”

The Calgary bylaw requires both cat and dog owners to license their pets, and to keep animals from roaming at large.

The bylaw is an important factor in Calgary’s success, but the strong public education campaign, the ‘I Heart My Pet’ rewards program and the promise to return licensed pets are motivation for pet owners, earning Calgary the highest compliance rates in the country.

“It is an honour for The City of Calgary to receive Nature Canada’s inaugural Safe Cats Safe Birds Award,” said Naheed Nenshi, Mayor of Calgary.

“Our approach focuses on accessible service and education that encourages responsible and accountable pet ownership. The result is a safe and healthy community for pets, and I’m proud of the work done by my colleagues at The City of Calgary to achieve this.”

The conflict between cat lovers and bird fanciers is a long one with deeply entrenched and very opposing views.

Like Nature Canada, organizations like the University of Guelph, by conducting surveys and research around the issue of cat population and protecting the birds, are trying to find ways for the groups to work together.

“The hope is that we can bring together cat supporters and bird advocates to take actions to improve cat welfare and reduce the effect of outdoor cats on birds,” Tyler Flockhart, a Liber Ero post-doctoral researcher at U of G, said.

WELFARE - Not Enough Dogs? Too Many? What's Happening with North America's Canines

Shelters, rescue organizations, veterinarians, ethical breeders, and other animal advocates have been working to reduce pet overpopulation and exploitative breeding practices for decades.

Aggressive spay/neuter initiatives have successfully halted pet overpopulation in some jurisdictions.

From 1994 to 2002, New Hampshire’s spay/neuter program facilitated a 77% drop in euthanasia rates at their shelters, and allowed them to have the lowest euthanasia rate in the nation in 2007.

In the ten years since then, spay/neuter programs and other efforts to reduce pet overpopulation have succeeded.

A recent study published by the Mississippi University State College of Veterinary Medicine indicates that shelter intake rates are higher, and euthanasia rates are lower, than previously believed. 

The study is quick to point out that there is no governing body for shelter medicine and no national register of shelters or national census of shelter animals, and that both intake and euthanasia rates are difficult to determine.

But even if the numbers aren’t 100%, the implications are significant.

There are a lot fewer dogs being euthanized, more dogs being adopted, and a growing demand for pet dogs.

One interpretation of the study suggests that there are not enough adoptable dogs to meet the American public’s demand.

This interpretation is based on euthanasia rates, which have dropped from an estimated 20 million pets per year in the 1970s to an estimated 776,000 per year now.

The Pet Leadership Council, who funded the research, state that, paired with a 2015 survey on where people get their pets, this study “demonstrate[s] a continued and significant need for responsibly bred dogs.”

Another interpretation of the study, on the popular Dogster forum, questions the idea that low euthanasia rates indicate a shortage of adoptable dogs.

Responding to the PLC interpretation, they say that the rates are, “a testament to all of the hard work being done in the animal welfare industry. But it’s still nearly 1 million dogs euthanized every year.”

Their interpretation is that adoption is still a viable solution, and that there are enough dogs to meet the demand.

The key question has to do with where people get their pets.

The Pet Leadership Council, a pet industry organization, sees a need for increased responsible breeding programs.

They want investment in careful breeding programs, and increased focus on initiatives like the Canine Care Certified program to help educate breeders and the public, and to ensure the “behavior and physical health” of bred puppies.

The AVMA recently added a responsible breeding policy that encourages research, continuing education, and outreach on inherited disorders in companion animals.

Others come to different conclusions.

Nathan Winograd, director of the No Kill Advocacy Center in California, told The Washington Post that, “I think you can take the results of this study, celebrate the decline in the killing of dogs and still come to the conclusion that you don’t need breeding.”

One solution is to bring dogs in from other jurisdictions.

In Canada, dogs are regularly brought in from other jurisdictions to match dogs in need with people who can adopt them.

The Report of the Canadian National Canine Importation Working Group found that “a large but unquantified number of companion animals (particularly dogs) are imported into Canada every year” and that “[t]here is currently no monitoring and minimal control of companion animal movement into and within Canada.”

It is a potential solution, but it’s not one that everyone agrees with.

One thing that each of these stakeholders can agree on is that puppy mills are not the answer.

Whether it’s the Pet Leadership Council advocating for increased responsible breeding, adoption advocates calling for continued focus on shelter and rescue work, or groups that bring dogs in from other jurisdictions meeting the demand through long-distance rescue work, each group agrees that puppy mills harm dogs and owners.

Current policy changes by the USDA may open the door for puppy mills to flourish, since it will be harder to check up on the qualifications of a breeder.

This may provide an opportunity for industry and rescues to come together across what sometimes seems like an unbridgeable divide.

About Tiffany Sostar

Tiffany is a published academic, an editor with the Editors Association of Canada, an independent scholar and researcher, and a self-care and narrative coach. She is particularly interested in the intersection of technology and identity - how our tools shape our selves and change our stories, and in how the nature of work is changing as we incorporate more technology into our daily lives.