'We wouldn’t let a dog suffer like this’: WHAT CAN DOCTORS LEARN FROM VETERINARIANS’ EXPERIENCE OF CARRYING OUT EUTHANASIA IN COMPANION ANIMALS (PETS)?

Among supporters for the legalisation of euthanasia some have articulated their feelings as, ‘We wouldn’t let a dog suffer like this’, implying that since euthanasia is an uncomplicated and humane way of disposing of an animal it should therefore be available as a treatment option for human patients who are suffering. However, little thought has been given to the complex feelings and potential burden that performing euthanasia places on individual veterinarians, nor on the conflicting feelings of the owner.

Although euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide in humans raise separate moral concerns, there has been little consideration in the literature of the effects on doctors of participation. It is appropriate to consider, from an interdisciplinary perspective, the effects on doctors’ wellbeing of participating in euthanasia or assisted suicide.

The terminology of the debate is often emotive, but, for this article, euthanasia is the deliberate administration of medication with the explicit intention of ending a patient’s life (with or without an explicit request). Physician-assisted suicide (PAS) is prescribing or supplying drugs with the explicit intention of enabling a patient to end their life.