Putting down an injured animal?

[Ole Anderson]

Other than my dogs at the vet, only had to do it once. A cat had crawed under the hood of my van and got caught in the fan belt. It was 10 minutes before the kids started congregating at the bottom of the drive to catch the school bus. Not fun.

[ray hampton]

you made the right call

[Bill Cunningham]

Your right, and did the right thing..
As for the animal rights people! No one puts down more kittens/cats/dogs every year than PETA!

[John Coloccia]

It's the way of the world, Curtis. Everyone and everything dies. You and me too. Human's can't relate to animals. All of the thoughts that are going through your mind don't apply to the situation. The cat didn't know why it was in pain, it didn't know what your gun was, and it was probably delirious from fever, sickness and starvation. We've bread them to be cute and lovable, but at the end of the day it was a cat. It has no moral sense...it has no concept of life and death other than instinct to preserve itself. It's cute because when it nips and scratches it happens to be small enough that it doesn't take off a limb like bigger cats do.

You did the right thing. My own dog is getting on in years, and the end is near. My wife and I love him because of the joy he brings us. I doubt he will make it to the end of the year. He was a rescue from a very abusive owner and he's been with me for 10 years (and with my wife almost 12 years). It will pain me to put him down because I'll miss him, but I won't feel bad about the decision when the time comes. I know I did the best I could. It's not human. In it's time of sickness, it doesn't take comfort in the company of relatives...sons, daughters, brothers, sisters. It has no comfort in chit chatting and reliving the good times. It doesn't have any wisdom to pass on, and it has no concept of anything to come. In the end, he will do nothing but suffer with no comfort and no choice. Just pain and confusion.

At that point, you put it down...which you did. So stop second guessing yourself. Even the cute and furry ones are just animals and no matter how much we love them and are attached to them (and Lord knows I am), there comes a point when you need to snap back to reality and realize that we're in a position to make these kinds of choices for them because they can't make them for themselves. I would go as far as to say that it's your duty as a decent human being and good for you for not wimping out and making it suffer for no good reason.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Not doing what you did would have been cruel. Right call all the way.

[curtis rosche]

Thanks for the replys,,, I knew I had to do it, and I did it fast before I could rethink it. I guess you always second guess after something like that, but it was the right thing to do. Hopefully wont have to do it again soon, we have multiple stray cats from the farms and such, and we have a very nasty possum and a fox on our property, and some large birds of prey.

[Rick Fisher]

Pretty natural to second guess yourself but the fact is you where alleviating suffering. That is a noble act, no matter how it felt. Examine your own motive for your choice and it will tell you if you made the right choice.

[Mike Henderson]

Read the poem "Hurt Hawks" by Robinson Jeffers. It's somewhat appropriate to your situation.

Mike