From: someone@anywheret.net   
      
   "JimD"  wrote in message news:2017031500003628223-email@nowherecom...   
      
   > We'll just disagree on this.  We've had two cats die in the last few   
   > months. One, Spunky, we did all the heroic things for, spend nearly a   
   > grand having his teeth pulled, cause they might be infected, and then   
   > medicine, medicine, medicine ... things drug on about a month, up until he   
   > was hopeless.  He got to where he would come and just sit on or by me. And   
   > that empathy thing again, I knew full well that he was dying and he knew   
   > it.  He couldn't hold food or water down.  One saturday afternoon, one of   
   > his eyeballs just collapsed. I'd seen something was wrong with it for days   
   > and was putting saline solution in there, because he had no tears from the   
   > dehyration. That eyeball was it. Took him to the emergency vet clinic,   
   > even that vet said end this.  No trying anything else.  His kidneys had   
   > shut down, and liver, and then the eyeball. Not gonna recover. So the   
   > choice was a few more hours of suffering or ......   
      
   > So, having just been thru that, my wife wasn't willing to see Alley suffer   
   > and starve.   
      
   > We did the right thing. I know it. Wife knows it.  Alley knew it.   A   
   > peaceful death is better than dragging it out by suffering for a few more   
   > days or hours.   
      
   > Really.   
      
   I could say a whole lot of things to put all this in perspective but it's   
   more than obvious that doing that would simply be trying to 'gently', but   
   mostly laboriously, and unproductively get to the central concept of the   
   whole thing, and that's simply this:   
      
   If you wouldn't do it to human creatures, then it shouldn't be done to   
   nonhuman creatures, it's really all that simple.   
      
   I'm certainly not suggesting allowing pain and suffering to continue   
   unaddressed, not at all, that would be wrong. But I'm also saying that   
   killing to stop it is wrong too.   
      
   > It seemed a very real thing. Hard to tell.  People will just think I'm an   
   > emotional fool.  Whatever.   
      
   Why? are they that Insensitive themselves that they can't even appreciate   
   sensitivity?   
      
   > That's what happens. We live longer than cats.  With getting one comes the   
   > responsibility of handling it's eventual death.   
      
   Now that's where good breeding should be used, for long healthy lives.   
      
   > I don't live in the city. Not totally in the woods, but out of town.  So   
   > there are animals around and I have to deal with them.  This summer, I've   
   > had to kill and bury several birds that were hit by passing cars.   
   > Particuarly, when I see them get whacked.  I'll go out, and there the bird   
   > will be, alive but with a broken neck, or ripped off wing.  Flopping on   
   > the ground.   
      
   That stuff happens in the city too.   
      
   > I've learned to take a shovel, and well, sever the head then bury it.  If   
   > I don't do that, what would happen ?   How long would you watch a bird   
   > with a broken neck flop around ?   They might live another 10 or 15   
   > minutes, maybe. Trying to fly, trying to stand.  I've picked one up and   
   > yep, broken neck, but still alive. I looked right in the eyes before I   
   > went ahead and chopped the head off.  It didn't seem upset with me.   
   > Unable to fly, or even stand anymore there was a look of confusion,   
   > desperation. Then, nothing.  It's over.  What's the alternative ?  Let   
   > them flip and flop around for a half hour ?   Life is hard sometimes.   
      
   Sounds like 'war stories'.   
      
   > The car had already taken the birds life. I didn't. It wasn't ever gonna   
   > recover.  I just cut the suffering short.   
      
   Jim   
      
   More 'war stories', and they certainly happen to human creatures too. My   
   former roommate once had a boyfriend who was a biker so they traveled around   
   the country a bit, and many of them were the 'one percenter' 'outlaw' types,   
   which meant they often did really stupid, dangerous things, like the guy who   
   tried jumping an opening bridge with his bike, failed, slid down into the   
   bridge's gears and was cut in half at the waist, then pulled himself   
   partially up the embankment with only his arms since that was all that was   
   left of him, trailing some of his guts and other innards behind him. One of   
   his buddies put him out of his misery with a .45 round to the head.   
      
   You can call that 'life' but that's not what life is to me!!!   
      
   Ouisie   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)