Inspiration comes from the most unexpected places in the stories, opinions and perspectives that I put forth for public viewing on this site. Sometimes I know for days what the topic of an upcoming piece will be and I have to wait for it to gel. Sometimes I stumble across a piece someone else has written and my original plans are completely derailed.
This is one of those nights.
Nathan Winograd, author of Redemption and a leader in the No Kill shelter movement, lost two family members this week to cancer, his uncle and his cat Gina. Though I have never met Nathan, my heart absolutely breaks for him. That he has the courage to use this time to examine his own views on euthanasia is something I find astounding. Its been nearly ten years since I lost my own mother to cancer and I can only confront many aspects of it indirectly.
Suffice it to say that I do not look at the topic of euthanasia lightly or without a serious measure of thought.
Even in its strictest of definitions, euthanasia takes a terrible toll on the decider . The person who makes that final decision for their beloved pet is invariably left with their own questions. Was it too soon? Did I wait too long? Did I make the right decision? Is euthanasia ever the right decision? Like many ethical questions the answer is deeply personal, influenced by individual experience. One of the most difficult issues in the concept of euthanasia is the recognition that different individuals can come to significantly different decisions when or even if to euthanize with similar soul-searching.
I suspect that Nathan and I would make quite different decisions on the definition of when and why to bring a merciful end to an animal’s life. I am informed by a different perspective & different experiences. Yet I still understand the pain, questions & doubts. The ability to examine our own hearts makes us human, capable of being humane & unique as a species. It is our blessing, our curse & we would be poorer without it.
Choose what makes you human, and humane.
Copyright 2009 by Erica Saunders http://AR-HR.com
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