Frequently Asked Questions About Euthanasia
- What is euthanasia?
- Why can the animal not be treated and released?
- Why is euthanasia necessary?
- What about healthy orphaned animals? They don’t have injuries or illnesses that would prevent release—why would they ever have to be euthanized?
1. What is euthanasia?
Euthanasia is the act of humanely killing an animal for reasons considered merciful. It comes from the Greek words meaning “good death.” Sometimes euthanasia is also called being “put down” or “put to sleep”.
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2. Why can the animal not be treated and released?
The ultimate goal of wildlife rehabilitation is to treat sick, injured, and orphaned wild animals, and then release recovered animals back to their native habitats. However, in order to successfully re-enter their natural environments, wild animals have to conform to more rigorous health standards than domestic animals. Take, for example, the case of a wild bird found to be blind in one eye. A domestic bird could probably live quite happily in captivity with only one functional eye, but the life and health of a wild bird depends on having two eyes. Birds of prey with only one eye lose the keen depth perception needed to capture living food. Songbirds must have two eyes to keep a constant watch for predators. To return an animal that is not able to compete back to its native environment can lead to great suffering, and most rehabilitators would regard such a release as unethical and inhumane.
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3. Why is euthanasia necessary?
If an animal cannot eventually be released, the options are limited. The animal must either be euthanized, or kept in captivity for the rest of its life. Let’s consider some of the issues involved.
In most cases, it is not even legal to keep the animal in captivity. But even if there were no legal ramifications, the future for captive animals is often grim. It is important in every case to consider the quality of life that can be offered to the animal. Wild animals are very different from domestic animals, who have evolved over thousands of years to co-exist closely with humans, and are well-adapted to the task. Wild animals see humans as predators, which means that being around us is highly stressful for them. As a result of this stress, many wild animals forced into a captive situation develop serious illnesses and confinement injuries that can even lead to death. Life in captivity for most wild animals is terrifying and miserable. There are a few situations in which captivity might be appropriate with certain low-stress animals (with the proper legal permits, indoor/outdoor housing facilities, normal socialization and diet), but these situations tend to be the exception, not the norm.
If for some reason a non-releasable animal is a good candidate for life in captivity, then it is important that it be kept and tended by wildlife rehabilitators or others who have the expertise to offer the necessary care. Wild animals should never be treated or kept by untrained caregivers. We would never trust the medical care of a person to an individual who knew nothing about medicine; the results are no less dire for wildlife. Untrained persons caring for wild animals can unintentionally cause debilitating problems for the animal, and additionally often put themselves, their families, and their pets at risk of contracting various zoonotic diseases.
As wildlife rehabilitators, we would like nothing more than to see more well-designed wildlife sanctuaries, with large, naturalized enclosures and trained caregivers where non-releasable wildlife could live out the rest of their days in an enriched, stress-reduced environment. Unfortunately, facilities that are can provide this type of permanent care for non-releasable wildlife are few and far between and fill up quickly. There are many thousands of wild animals who cannot be rehabilitated every year due to fates they suffer from living in close proximity to humans; in captivity each one would require an extensive set-up to provide a good quality of life; and typically no government funding is available. It isn’t difficult to see why this combination of factors makes placement of most non-releasable wildlife problematic at best.
Although the wildlife rehabilitation field is constantly advancing its knowledge to better help wildlife, there are still many animals that have injuries or illnesses they cannot fully recover from. (For more information on why animals become sick or injured in the first place, click here). Euthanasia is a difficult decision. But when the alternative for the animal is long-term suffering, we must consider whether our own desire to keep the animal alive forces the animal to pay a devastating price.
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4. What about healthy orphaned animals? They don’t have injuries or illnesses that would prevent release—why would they ever have to be euthanized?
Unfortunately, because wild babies become orphaned so often, and require such frequent feeding and intensive care, wildlife rehabilitators have limits on the number of babies they are able to take in. When rehabilitators reach a capacity beyond which they would have to compromise the care of their existing patients to take on additional ones, and if the animal cannot be redirected to another rehabilitator, they will usually direct the animal to an organization that can provide euthanasia services, or may provide this service themselves.
Some people attempt to raise wild babies themselves as an alternative to euthanasia. Although this is a kind-hearted response, it often unintentionally harms or seriously compromises the baby. Baby wild animals have complex and specific needs that must be met in order to give them a fair chance of survival in the wild. This can be deceiving, since it often is not difficult to keep a baby alive for some period of time with diligent care. Most babies raised by untrained caregivers and brought to wildlife rehabilitators later in life, however, show debilitating (and often fatal) nutritional deficiencies caused by poor homemade or pet store formula diets. And even with an excellent diet, a baby socialized with humans (as opposed to other babies of its own species), or not given proper access to sunlight or climbing/flying facilities as it grows will develop abnormally. All of these factors would compromise an animal’s ability to survive once released.
Baby animals raised to be kept as pets—that is, with no intention of release—often fare no better. Babies that are docile and affectionate in infancy typically become aggressive at sexual maturity but because of their socialization have no fear of humans; many of these raised babies begin to attack humans as they mature, which makes them dangerous both in captivity and in the wild. Because they cannot then be released and there are usually no sanctuary facilities available, these animals usually end up being euthanized as well, and in these cases after long periods of care.
For these reasons, we do not ever recommend that babies be raised by untrained caregivers. We feel that euthanasia is a more humane option than the suffering caused by improper care. It is also illegal to raise wildlife without the proper permits, and it can put caregivers and their families and pets at risk of various zoonotic diseases.
It is a painful reality for those that work and volunteer in wildlife rehabilitation that we cannot help every animal. We are continually working to raise funds and recruit more volunteers so that we can do more. AT Toronto Wildlife Centre, we admit more wild animals for care each year than any other wildlife rehabilitator in Ontario. To help us increase the number of babies we can help, we have a foster care program* through which we provide training to volunteers to help foster babies during the “hand-feeding” period in their homes with nutritional and medical support from our staff. If you are interested in finding out more about becoming part of this important program and helping to give orphans a chance at survival, please contact us about volunteering at (416) 631-0662, or see our website for more information.
*please note that the training program takes time so is not a feasible option to help a baby that is currently in your care
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