Some Compassionate Context for Behavioral Euthanasia

Another Hot Take from the lens of Applied Ethology- Kim Brophey

(TW: Behavioral Euthanasia)

I’ve been thinking about BE.

I’m remembering the many clients I’ve consulted with in these agonizing decisions over the course of my career – how brutal and wrong it feels for a person who loves their dog so freaking much to even have to ponder taking a life, no matter how appropriate the call might be to make for not only human interests and safety, but even the dogs’ often significant suffering underneath the behaviors that bring the conversation to the table.

The industry loves to fight about this topic, like everything else. Trainers love to blame other trainers, or the families, for making the call or not making the call for whatever reasons they have. I get the emotion. It’s life and death. And the call shouldn’t be made lightly or hastily. Nor should it be delayed when it’s the only way to relieve suffering and prevent the risk of serious injuries. But it’s important to step back for a hot minute to appreciate the real context of this terribly agonizing topic.

I’d like to offer a perspective that gets the subject out of the suffocating emotional and ethical weeds a bit, from the objective lens of ethology.

It will always feel wrong, no matter what, because the entire situation is unnatural as heck and “wrong”. We weren’t meant to play God deciding the fate of dependent captive animals who are unable to functionally adapt to the conditions of life.

Outside of captivity, that’s nature’s job – determining what’s adaptive and functional, and what’s not. That’s natural selection – of individual responses (i.e. the learning process) and generational diversity. Where nature does the selecting- without judgment or shame- we find ourselves trying to fill shoes we were never meant to fill with power we didn’t consciously intend to sign up for. Our being in this position- having to play God- is a direct consequence of our taking dogs out of this natural system of checks and balances.

Dogs can’t adapt – individually or generationally – to the conditions of their world. We’ve completely interrupted the natural system designed to ensure optimal coping capacity, fitness to conditions, adaptation to pressures and opportunities.

Because of captivity.

That’s where the stage got set for being in the positions we are now, having to wield power making decisions that were never ours to make.

It feels awful and wrong, because it is.

It’s never “right”.

It’s only grey area of worse, better, best.

So if these weeds are ever choking you, and you’re feeling the weight of the impossible decisions behind you or ahead of you, remember- you didn’t ask for this situation anymore than the dogs did.

This predicament got set up a long time ago, when we took complete genetic and environmental control of everything in a dog’s life as a matter of standard practice in the United States and other developed nations following the pet script. Dogs are struggling to cope. The snowball has been building – because they’re effectively cornered without the agency to determine their own life choices in meaningful ways or have their offspring better positioned to succeed than they were.
So their behavior has become increasingly pathological- maladaptive. Now we have the data to prove what we’ve been watching unfold in recent years.

If you find yourself being tempted to judge others about these impossible positions families or pros are in, feeling self righteous that only skill and dedication are required to “fix” a dog’s problems, remember- this corner doesn’t have a great out. Successfully suppressing a dog’s behavior to keep them alive at the expense of their emotional and mental health (their welfare) is no righteous outcome. There are fates worse than death, and it’s our job to keep them in mind as we work to find “best” in these impossible situations.

When your heart is shaken by BE, step back and remind yourself – there’s nothing that will ever feel right about having to be in the position of playing God. Be nice to yourself. It’s going to feel wrong even if it’s best.