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Maddie's Editorials 2005

A Look at Owner Requested Euthanasia
By Rich Avanzino

Looking at statistics from shelters across the country, I'm surprised at the high numbers I sometimes see in one particular category: Owner Requested Euthanasia (ORE).

With so many dogs and cats already dying in shelters for lack of space, time, poor behavior or illness, why do humane organizations volunteer to end the lives of hundreds or thousands more?

I think many believe it's an important community service. Said one former shelter director, "Our facility was the only place in the county where people could euthanize their pet. I remember one little old lady who was just heartbroken that she had to put her sickly 20 year-old dog to sleep. She thanked me through her tears, grateful I was there to help her."

Another shelter director was quoted in a newspaper article saying, "The major reason for the euthanasia continues to be owner request, which is a free service we provide for the public for injured, sick and fractious animals." Owner requested euthanasia accounted for 12% of his shelter deaths. I’ve seen other cases where ORE was 87% of total euthanasia.

First, I'm glad some shelters are publishing their ORE numbers. At many shelters, these deaths are excluded from statistics the public sees, as if the animals never crossed the shelter threshold. Even shelters that publish their “deaths per thousand” often fail to list ORE deaths. In my opinion, not openly accounting for Owner Requested deaths is just wrong.

In spite of the public service argument, owner requested euthanasia is still a troubling concept for me. First, if a guardian brings in an animal for euthanasia who is perfectly healthy and behaviorally sound, I feel he deserves a second chance at life. I would guess that just about all animal shelters agree, and place these animals in their adoption programs. Some shelter websites post this as their policy.

However, it gets a little stickier when it comes to the older animals and those with treatable illnesses and behavior problems – animals that could be placed with some effort.. If the guardian of this animal signs an Owner Requested Euthanasia form as opposed to a Surrender form, many shelters feel they are no longer responsible for counting the animal's death -- and the classification can make their statistics look better. A shelter can say it saves all of its healthy and almost all of its treatable animals, even though it's not counting Owner Requested Euthanasia, a separate category excluded from the shelter's death numbers.

Here's my suggestion: Let's get rid of the Owner Requested Euthanasia category. When an animal comes to the shelter, let's evaluate him by his condition and what he deserves, not by what an owner/guardian may want. If an animal must be euthanized because he is sick, injured or poorly behaved and the shelter doesn't have the resources to treat him, categorize the animal's death like the other shelter animals in the same condition (e.g. Treatable/Rehabilitatable). If the animal can't be placed under any circumstances, use a category that says so (Unhealthy&Untreatable), as opposed to owner request. This method eliminates a category that can easily escape accountability.

The Tompkins County SPCA in Ithaca, New York has a policy I like. According to staff, "We've eliminated owner requested euthanasia from our menu of services. If someone asks for it, we give them the party line: 'we are not in the business of killing people's pets for them.' We recommend taking the animal to his own veterinarian where the pet can die with dignity surrounded by caring people who know and love him. If the person tells us he can't afford a veterinarian, he can surrender the animal to us since we're the only shelter in the county. Then it's up to us to decide if the animal should be put down or made available for adoption. If he's healthy or treatable, he will be placed in a new home."