Is Animal Euthanasia Moral?

[Thy Geekdom Come]

My dog has epilepsy (or so we think...we can't be sure until an autopsy shows it). He suffers from seizures, some of them very severe, from time to time, usually in clustered groups. When he's not having seizures, he is fine. My parents are worried because they can't afford to keep taking him to the vet for emergency care and medication. The seizures themselves don't cause him any pain, but the bumps and stuff he gets as a result do, I am sure.

My parents don't want him to have to suffer anymore.

We know euthanasia of humans is absolutely wrong, but is it wrong to euthanize an animal?

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
7/20 - Sixteenth Tuesday

Raphael,

The reason that it is wrong to euthanize humans is because they have a dignity that derives from the fact that they are humans.

Animals, on the other hand, are a different story. Since they have a dignity that is lower than human dignity (cf. Gen. 2), it is morally legitimate to put them down. However, they can't be put down for any reason - basically, it needs to be what I've always known as "putting him out of his misery". If health problems (or tire wheels, for that matter) make an animal's life not worth living, then the merciful thing to do is to put them down. Hope this helps.

Yours,
Pio Nono