Had to euthanize a kid last night. :(

[freemotion]

I don't have a gun and I have stayed with and held every animal that has been euthanized in my adult life.

I'd far rather a gun be used. It is quicker and more humane. They don't know it is coming and feel nothing.

Not so with a needle. It hurts. The drug going in is uncomfortable. Sometimes the animal fights against death, and that is the worst, the absolute worst.....makes ya question the timing of the decision, even if it was the right one intellectually.

Reading your story, cm, made me wish that someone in my family had a gun and would use it if called upon. If that were the case, I'd likely never use a vet to euthanize again. Nothing against it, but the bullet is quicker and less stressful on the animal. And transporting that goat would've been beyond cruel unless absolutely necessary. Waiting for the vet to arrive, possibly for hours, would also have been cruel, especially with a pistol available and someone willing to put aside their own pain for a moment to do an animal the ultimate in kindness.

IMO. Sorry, jessica, but that is just reality. Not saying you need to do it....I won't, or can't, or something....but let's not criticize someone who manned-up and did the right thing for the sake of a sweet little buckling who was suffering beyond imagination.

Thank goodness you were there to hear him scream and he didn't hang from that tree....Thank goodness you had the pistol and the fortitude.

 

[cmjust0]

Thank goodness you were there to hear him scream

Ya know, I've actually had that same thought...if there's such a thing as a "good time" for this to have happened, the little guy picked it perfectly.

I'd been gone to work since early that morning, and my wife left for work at like 1pm.. I didn't make it home until right about 8pm, and it happened less than 30min after I got home. There was also just enough daylight to see right away what was going on, and to get him down quickly.. He didn't dangle for more than a few seconds, really, and was back on the ground in probably 3min or less.

Had it happened at, say...1:15pm, just after my wife left for work...poor little guy could have been hanging upside down by his shattered leg for about six hours until I got home.

Would probably have been easier on me to find him hanging dead like that, simply because I wouldn't have had to kill him myself...but I certainly wouldn't have wished that on him just so it would be easier for me..

I dunno if this is going to make a lick of sense or not, but......if something that catastrophically wrong can be considered to have gone well, it went about as well as it possibly could have.

 

[jlbpooh]

CM, I am sorry about your cute little guy and I feel for you. My brother had to do the exact thing to his dog about a month ago. He was pulling his boat out of the driveway to get ready to go on vacation. The supports under his boat trailer drags against the driveway when he goes down the hump. Well, his dog had his sights set on something and ran right under the trailer right when it hit the driveway. I'll spare the details, but it wasn't pretty. It was only 5:30 in the morning, so obviously the vet wasn't open. The dog was mortally wounded, but definitely conscious to where he was feeling the pain, and he was suffering greatly. My brother grabbed his piece out of his van, it was kinda handy since they were leaving to go camping in the boonies.) He and his family gave the dog a last hug and kiss, and the dog was taken out of his suffering. My brother felt horrible, but he did what he had to do given the circumstances. (He lives in the city, btw, so it was illegal to shoot the gun, but again, you gotta do what you gotta do.)

 

[jodief100]

Don't use a .22LR.

As an experience marksman (NRA certified competition shooter in 5 different disciplines) I am going to add: DO NOT use a .25, .32 or .223 either. None of these calibers have enough mass to do the job quickly and easily.

If you must do this, and we all will at sometime do it RIGHT. Learn from the experience of others to save your animals the pain and yourself the suffering.

Make sure there are no rocks, concrete or anything hard on the other side, hit the dirt. And use an approprauet caliber.

 

[jessica5254]

I was just relaying my opinion and I do believe I have that right. I was not rude and i could have said alot worse. Also how am I supposed to know what he was going to write I was just reading and felt sorry for the guy. Whos being critical now? Also I have had to put some of my own goats down with a gun it is not preferrred but it depending on the situation. I thought this website was wonderful and it is until you disagree with someone.

 

[cmjust0]

I was just relaying my opinion and I do believe I have that right. I was not rude and i could have said alot worse. Also how am I supposed to know what he was going to write I was just reading and felt sorry for the guy. Whos being critical now?

You do have that right, and I opened the door to all manner of discussion by posting it on a discussion forum. If I'd wanted to just go on feeling right and never have it challenged, I could easily have NOT posted it here.. But, I did post it, and I did so knowing full well that not everyone was going to agree with how the situation was handled.

I'm OK with that, because I knew it was the right thing to do, and I knew that a few critical forum posts weren't going to shake my confidence in having done what I did.

Now, what you have to understand about all the responses your post generated is that those folks are entitled to an opinion as well -- just like you. If you didn't want to run the risk of having your opinion challenged, then you shouldn't have posted it on a discussion forum.

This place is a two way street.

Also I have had to put some of my own goats down with a gun it is not preferrred but it depending on the situation.

So...you say my goat should have been "euthanized" instead of shot, and you claim that simply reading about shooting a goat was overly graphic and just "toooo much" for you to handle....yet, it's something you've actually done before?

That doesn't exactly add up.. :/

I thought this website was wonderful and it is until you disagree with someone.

It is wonderful -- even when you disagree with someone.

You just have to be willing and able to do that without getting your feelings hurt. That's all.

I'll also say this -- if anybody here has grounds to be a little aggravated, it would be me...at you...and I think most here would back me up.

But I'm not aggravated. Not even a little bit.

And if I can handle your opinion that I did the wrong thing by killing a baby goat, or that I did it in the wrong way, or whatever.....well, surely you can handle others' opinions that you did the wrong thing by criticizing me.. Yes?

 

[jessica5254]

I did not do it myself My husband took care of it. And sorry if I hurt your feelings I believe you did the right thing about putting the kid down. When Iwas reading your post, i just was not expecting details. I have personal reasons why I cant handle details of that nature. That is my own problem. But i was just expressing my opinion which I will not do again.

 

[Hykue]

I'm also new, and I don't think the objection was to disagreeing, it sounded to me like it was the context in which the disagreeing happened. If this thread had been a general discussion about euthanasia and what situations using a gun would be appropriate, the comment would have been right at home. It just came across as a little bit insensitive given that it was applied to a specific animal that someone had to make a very hard decision about. I can understand that you were feeling very shocked after reading the description, and I'm sorry. These stories affect me too, but I still read them because it seems healing to me to share them. Even when they make me cry. Given the title of the thread, you knew what was coming, but you expected it to be something that was easier on the humans involved. Unfortunately, the reality of the situation was such that the OP decided using a gun was the most humane. Yes, it is a shocking and horrible image, not because he did anything wrong, but because we all love baby goats, and a gun is a tool used for killing. If you too have had to use a gun for euthanasia, you can understand that in some contexts it is the right tool. Personally, I found the image of the goat hanging by his leg even more disturbing, because that would have been so unbelievably painful, but that's what happened, so that's what the OP posted. You definitely have the right to disagree with what he posted, but especially when someone is grieving, it might be better to keep your disagreement to yourself on that particular thread. You were not rude at all, you made the point that it was just your opinion, but you would hardly go to the house of someone who was grieving for a lost friend and tell them that they should have done something differently, no matter how politely you phrased it. Well, I wouldn't, anyway. It is really just my personal opinion. Your comment didn't strike me as rude or anything, just as being a bit out of place.

Emmett's dairy wrote:

Just remeber we are here to support and help eachother through sharing expiences and situations. Not criticize...I dont hold the opinions of everyone on here....but the man just went through hell....give him a break..

It sounded to me like that was what people were trying to say. Choose your battles, so to speak. If you want to discuss guns used as euthanasia, start a thread about it. If you want to object to the use of a graphic image, you certainly can, but it might work better for you to edit your reading than to try to edit other people's writing. I understand that you were just expecting the kind of general asking-for-sympathy thread. If it were me, that's probably what I would have posted. But that doesn't mean that he had no right to post the image. By the time I got to that part of the story, I knew what was coming, because he had been telling the whole story as a narrative. If I thought I couldn't take it, I would have had the responsibility to stop reading then. But, having just had to put down one of my chickens, I found that the image of someone else ALSO killing something out of love and a sense of duty to minimize suffering helped me to feel less alone.

 

[cmjust0]

I did not do it myself My husband took care of it.

I know it still hurts to have to go through that, even at a distance...but it really is a totally different ballgame when you actually have to pull the trigger.

And sorry if I hurt your feelings I believe you did the right thing about putting the kid down.

That's just it...you didn't hurt my feelings. Like I said, I knew I did the right thing and it's gonna take more than a forum post or two questioning my actions to change my mind about that.

When Iwas reading your post, i just was not expecting details. I have personal reasons why I cant handle details of that nature. That is my own problem.

Well, then I guess it's my turn to say I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings.

But i was just expressing my opinion which I will not do again.

Nobody's telling you not to express your opinions...but this is a discussion forum. If you have opinions you don't wish to be challenged, it would be wise not to express them -- because they will be challenged.

If nobody challenged anyone else's opinions, it would be a very boring world without much change or innovation.

 

[cmjust0]

Personally, I found the image of the goat hanging by his leg even more disturbing, because that would have been so unbelievably painful,

I actually have both images etched in my brain, and I agree with you..

The shooting was more injurious, of course, but infinitely less painful and scary and stressful for him than were the moments following the accident itself..

Having been present for both, that's not really a matter of opinion -- it's just a fact.

But, having just had to put down one of my chickens, I found that the image of someone else ALSO killing something out of love and a sense of duty to minimize suffering helped me to feel less alone.

I should have been more direct about this when I read the stories, but reading about Roll Farm's fawn and your chicken helped me -- a lot -- in much the same way as you describe.. I didn't necessarily feel better about having to do it, but...well, while I hate it for ALL of us, it really does help to know you're not the only unlucky SOB in the world who has to do things like this.