Why do we put animals out of their misery but let humans suffer?

Call me cynical, but I wonder if government (any and all) prefer people's houses to go towards paying for care because it prevents inheritance. They don't like people being financially independent or having assets because then people might not have to work and pay tax for so long.

My apologies. You are correct that it is not technically illegal as the Suicide Act was replaced by the Mental Health Act.

However in this case it makes no real difference. The key point is the same. People are not “free to commit suicide if they wish”. If they try and are unsuccessful they will be forcibly prevented from trying again.

@YorksMa what do you mean? I made it after my grandmother died of dementia. She wouldn't have gotten to the way she ended if she hadn't been given antibiotics on at least 2 previous occasions. No it wouldn't have prevented the dementia, but she'd have died whilst she still had some quality of life, could recognise some people, taste food, and so on, rather than living past all that.

This is already the reality for most people in hospice care. Doesn't do anything to prevent suffering.

Agree. Sorry for what you're going through. I also had to watch my parents suffer terribly at the end - despite receiving quality hospice care. It was literally like watching torture.

My Grandma (dad’s mum) died of dementia eventually after years in a care home. My dad always said if he ever got like that then shoot him as he absolutely in no way wanted to be reduced to a shell of a person having someone else do all of his most basic care.
Guess what he ended up with? Yep dementia and again spent years in a care home not being able to walk, speak, feed himself or even give himself a drink. The pleading in his eyes sometimes broke my heart and I can tell you now if he’d have had a crystal ball and knew what was coming he’d have ended his life before it all started

I'm for assisted dying (but against euthanasia) in theory but not in the current economic climate, for all the reasons detailed above. In a healthy society and economy, I'd vote for it. In the meantime, why not do what I've done? Making an advanced directive stating clearly that in case of permanent loss of capacity combined with [inability to eat and or/ toilet and/or recognise relatives, and'or meaningfully communicate and/or complete as per your wishes] I refuse all life extending treatment and want comfort measures only. That means no antibiotics. Its not failsafe but its a hell of a lot better than nothing.

Have you ever questioned why they’re against it though? Medical organisations and care companies make their money by keeping people alive with care, drugs, etc no profit, or very little profit to be made by people being allowed to end their suffering!
Whereas even very basic care is 2k a week, much more for more complex cases. Drugs are expensive to develop, manufacture, so you need an audience to be feeding the drugs to and be paying for the care…there’s more Money to be made keeping people alive than letting them die!

i hope the law changes soon. It’s inhumane

Has that ever actually happened in the UK though? I've read various accounts of people who accompany their loved ones to Dignitas but never heard of a case of someone being prosecuted for it.

No and yes.

Suicide is NOT illegal in the U.K. and hadn't been since 1961.

OP, it is unethical and extremely dangerous to have assisted suicide when we don't have the bare minimum of palliative care. Once palliative care is sorted, we might be able to have a balanced conversation.

Yes, I have watched both a bad death and a good death, and no, it didn't change my view.

And I've seen one of my pets put to sleep where is was not peaceful and straightforward, but actually pretty awful.

I agree completely OP.

It’s cruel. Heartbreaking to see.

If you travel to another country where assisted dying is legal, you can’t take your family with you because they can be prosecuted on their return. Absolutely crazy. It either means you have to die peacefully, alone, or suffer just to have your family there for your last moments. People should absolutely have the right to choose

I really hope we can have assisted dying in the UK, like Switzerland.

I think there are a lot of vested interests in the present status quo, not least the huge 'care' industry which is run for profit often providing low quality care to people, many of whom would have chosen a dignified death if that had been an option.

I support Dignity In Dying which is campaigning for choice, with appropriate safeguards.

Me too.

Honestly, I think it's because we have a higher tolerance for getting it wrong when it comes to animals.

A vet strongly recommended putting my friend's dog down. They got a second opinion and the diagnosis was wrong. It turned out that the real issue could be easily treated and the dog returned to full health. The potential of this happening with a human patient is far less tolerable to most people.

People also put pets to sleep because their care is too difficult to cope with (weeing and pooping in the house, increased separation anxiety etc). There's a worry that people who require a lot of care might feel pressured to request euthanasia for similar reasons, even if they don't actually want to die.

I do agree that euthanasia should be available to people though, it would just need to be incredibly well managed.

Agreed. I watched my mum's horrible death and I'm still traumatised and equally terrified I'll get the same illness. She did not need to live out that last month

I used to sit by my mother's care home bed, several years after she last recognised anyone, fed herself or spoke intelligibly, and wondered exactly that.

As my brother said, had we let an animal live in that manner it would have been criminal.

Thats a good starting point (as long as the person has agreed) but its not always possible to keep people comfortable. My dad had the sort of death you are describing - it took 5 weeks and he was a skeleton with bedsores when he died, and that was with 121 nursing, hospital bed w special mattress the lot. A big shot of morphine would have been kinder.

As a disabled person and someone who has watched parents slowly die horribly I totally want the option of being able to choose.
And get very annoyed at those who decide I should not be able to.

Totally agree. When they are clearly going to die in the next week/s, why prolong it? I’m confused by what is allowed and what isn’t.. my family member with terminal cancer kept being offered the sedation to put him to sleep, and then one day he took it, we said goodbye and he went. So it is allowed sometimes?

Her care was not bad. Her carers were given 30 minutes to come in, sponge bathe her in the morning, apply cream, change her, and place her back into bed. To change her, they had to put her into a hoist. Then they still needed to prepare breakfast or a snack, hydrate her, and leave for the next client. Most of the carers would stay longer whenever they could, but many times they were rushing between calls.

On many mornings, the lady would have removed her adult diaper during the night and smeared the contents across herself, the bed, the walls, and even the ceiling. Most of the time, the carers simply did not have enough time to do everything that was needed. Even if they had, they still weren’t allowed to carry her outside because she couldn’t safely sit in a wheelchair, and a stretcher wouldn’t fit in the lift.

No individual person is really to blame. We’ve found ways to prolong the duration of human life far beyond what nature intended, but not its quality. That is a societal issue, not an individual failing.

You have clearly never experienced anything remotely like this firsthand. Stop instructing other people on how long they should be forced to suffer until you’ve spent years agonising in a bed yourself.