Hayley hangs up her Red Anorak

[Dazzle]

In my family it was a young alcoholic who mistakenly felt all the trouble he was causing his loved ones would stop if he was gone.

Very, very sad, Gloria

[sarah c]

I don't understand why you think it's cruel to let an animal live if it's ill. All you have to do is give them love and care and medical support during that time like you would a person. Obviously it is of great cost and time when you take this option which I would take each time.

you are missing the distinction between ill and terminal.

If someone, human or animal is ill, I would advocate all treatment available to help them recover or have a good quality of life

but if someone is terminal and suffering with no hope of any treatment other than relief then the choice to end their suffering should be an option

[sarah c]

I totally agree with you, and it's nice to find someone who feels like this.

I'm not sure I could cope with killing, and I feel that animals cope with pain much better than people. When they've had enough they simply die on their own. It's good if they can do this in their home with a loved one(s).

I made the decision to put my cat to sleep when his liver cancer progressed to start eating his muscles an insides. I had treated him with medication for 18 months prior to that and his quality of life was good...until I had to watch he cancer literally eat him from inside

so I should have waited for him to 'simply die on his own'?


amazing...

[GloriaW]

you are missing the distinction between ill and terminal.

If someone, human or animal is ill, I would advocate all treatment available to help them recover or have a good quality of life

but if someone is terminal and suffering with no hope of any treatment other than relief then the choice to end their suffering should be an option

So agree! That is a very important distinction.

[GloriaW]

you are missing the distinction between ill and terminal.

If someone, human or animal is ill, I would advocate all treatment available to help them recover or have a good quality of life

but if someone is terminal and suffering with no hope of any treatment other than relief then the choice to end their suffering should be an option

So agree! That is a very important distinction.

[alan45]

In my previous careers I dealt with dozens of suicides and although very few people know what goes through the mind of someone who commits suicide I know from experience the devastation they leave behind. They leave behind families who feel guilty that they did not do more or guilty because they feel guilty for something they perceive they did to drive the person to suicide.

That said when someone like 'Hayley' decides along with their partner to die with dignity then the circumstances are entirely different.

[alan45]

In my previous careers I dealt with dozens of suicides and although very few people know what goes through the mind of someone who commits suicide I know from experience the devastation they leave behind. They leave behind families who feel guilty that they did not do more or guilty because they feel guilty for something they perceive they did to drive the person to suicide.

That said when someone like 'Hayley' decides along with their partner to die with dignity then the circumstances are entirely different.

[GloriaW]

So you want a society of fit healthy humans and animals?

How about a society in which living things don't suffer unnecessarily if there is no chance of survival?

[GloriaW]

In my previous careers I dealt with dozens of suicides and although very few people know what goes through the mind of someone who commits suicide I know from experience the devastation they leave behind. They leave behind families who feel guilty that they did not do more or guilty because they feel guilty for something they perceive they did to drive the person to suicide.

That said when someone like 'Hayley' decides along with their partner to die with dignity then the circumstances are entirely different.

You're dead on about the guilt factor. It's nearly always present in suicides. The survivors feel they should or could have done something to have prevented it. And I totally agree with you about the distinction concerning a terminal individual.

[GloriaW]

In my previous careers I dealt with dozens of suicides and although very few people know what goes through the mind of someone who commits suicide I know from experience the devastation they leave behind. They leave behind families who feel guilty that they did not do more or guilty because they feel guilty for something they perceive they did to drive the person to suicide.

That said when someone like 'Hayley' decides along with their partner to die with dignity then the circumstances are entirely different.

You're dead on about the guilt factor. It's nearly always present in suicides. The survivors feel they should or could have done something to have prevented it. And I totally agree with you about the distinction concerning a terminal individual.