...to be fucking Horrified that my neighbour Killed His Dog??

[ahhyesiseeyouvepooedonyourfoot]

Was chatting to our next door neighbour who is ok (I thought), in his late 40's with a lovely family and his own consultancy business. He mentioned that his dog was incontinent and probably dying and how sad his daughters were about it, all innocently I said 'Ahh thats sad when will you be taking him to vets' he said 'I'm not paying any bluddy vets I'll take him out and shoot him' (he does have guns for hunting)...cue stuttering WTFS??? from me..

He was quite indignant and said 'With our last dog me and a friend took him to a forest and injected him with ketamine, he went straight to sleep its EXACTLY what the vet would do'
I said I'm pretty sure it WASN'T exactly what the vets did and bluffed a bit about knowing they used a cocktail of drugs for different things - which in fact don't know - can any vets confirm for me?

Anyway I asked him to leave my house, I wasnt being all 'PC gorn mad' was I??

It could be okay. YABU to jump to conclusions. When I was a child our hamster had a stroke and one of our neighbours dealt with it humanely for us.

Although I have often wondered as an adult how you could shoot something as small as a hamster.

I'd call the police. I imagine they might ask him a few questions about his access to ketamine. What kind of consultancy is he in, anyway, one with links to Howard Marks or something?

Goodness Jooly could you come and open a vet's practice round here? It cost £46 to have the dog put to sleep (aged 16 with inoperable cancer) this time last year.

Ketamine is used as an anaesthetic. Vets tend to use Sodium Pentobarbital for euthanasia.

My clubbing friends don't seem to have any problems sourcing ketamine Jooly, no idea where their suppliers get it from though!

Like to see anyone round our way put an animal down for £20!

It cost me £160 to put my friends old sick pony down for her and another £140 to get the meat man to take the body away. I did it because she couldnt afford to pay for it. she was saving up to put her pony to sleep!!

A lot of farmers shoot sick animals as they are worth less than the cost of getting the vet in to put them down or treat them.

Not sure I would shoot the dog myself. but I can understand why a farmer might.

The RSPA are completely rubbish. I ended up buying a horse off someone to rescue it after 6 calls to the RSPCA over several months didnt even get a visit.

Baroness I imagine the neighbour did it like I was taught to do by my mother with Myxy rabbits, and chickens. A swift pull and twist to the neck.

I would feel very uneasy about someone doing this. I think animals should be taken to the vets to be put to sleep, and if people don't want to fork out the minimal amount of money it costs, they shouldn't have pets tbh.

What the hell does ketamine do to humans then, if it is such a tranquiliser. Why do people take something which tranquilises horses fgs.

My uncle had to do this on his farm in Italy. The guard dog had attacked my sister and tasted blood. He was distraught but that's the way they do things there. A bullet to the dogs head and it's over. It's really sad I agree but it is done.

While I couldn't do it, I don't have a major issue with it...and I'm a dog lover (sharing my bed with one of my big mutts right now in fact).

It would be immeasurably more cruel to let the dog linger on and continue to suffer which I have seen far too many people do because it would be too difficult and upsetting for them to make the decision to end the poor dog's life.

Dogs have no comprehension of the future, even 5 minutes from now. Ad far as it is concerned, it's going for a walk with its owner. It doesnt know that it will be its last walk. That's got to be way less stressful for an elderly, poorly dog than a final trip to the vets.

At our practice it is £36 for euthanasia and another £36 for routine cremation.

We had our old dog put down in August.

It was done at the vet's, a place she hated having spent so much time there over the last few years. She was distressed and had to be muzzled - not a nice end. (And it certainly wasn't around £20, it was £160). Had I known it was 'the end', I'd have asked the vet to come to the house.

Out on a walk (not that she could) with a swift bullet to her head? It's got to be the better way to go. Not that we could do it!

I'd prefer my DH to despatch my dogs. They would know "something's up" with a visit to the vet.
DH wouldn't do the deed though. Sadly.

Ketamine is not a nice drug. We use it in combination with another 2 drugs to induce anaesthesia in cats, and they often seem to hallucinate and can be a bit agitated if the other drugs wear off before the ket. I have NEVER used it, for any reason, in a dog. I believe it is used in horses in drug combinations, but there are big species differences between a dog and a horse and a cat.

As for those suggesting it might be a less stressful end for the dog, he would really have to know his way around a dog's skull to know exactly where to aim for a clean death-shot. I've seen cats (and one dog) shot by air rifles, with a nice big hole into their frontal sinus, so that I could see right into their head, walking about a bit dazed. I've seen dogs survive a hammer-blow to the head (yes, that resulted in prosecution, thankfully) So there is no guarantee that Mr Big with his gun would see the dog off with one clean shot. Would the dog be so relaxed with a cold gun muzzle to its head that it would be guaranteed not to move an inch? Especially freaked out on ketamine?

I euthanase lots of dogs, and they rarely get stressed or upset. We are always gentle and if you do get the odd one that is worried or aggressive we use PROPER sedatives first.

I'm not trying to be emotive. I understand that farmers shoot cute bunnies, that horses and cows get shot (have attended a fair few of these) but for a lay-person, who has no idea where or how to best shoot the dog to do it to sabe a few measly quid that he could well afford AND to boast about using illegal and inapproriate drugs beforehand doesn't sit right with me. The fact this guy has access to ketamine at all would be a major issue for me alone.

hmm ok I am slightly rethinking - has all been quite grown up for AIBU I think, thank you for not flaming me! The shooting I would be OK with IF (and it's a bit if) he knows what he is doing, he is NOT a farmer and the dog is NOT in any capacity a working dog, but I do think he comes from a rural-ish background (the neighbour not the dog). However the Ket thing I am still unhappy with, keeping my judgy pants on

So, I'm with smarty.

Ketamine is also used on humans in bona vide hospital settings. Not sure what the high is like for clubbers...?

Mmmm I can see the benefit in being able to kill an animal painlessly and quickly yourself if this is what he can do rather than stressful vet trip. My dog hates the vets and gets very worked up.

I've seen ketamine used (not this country) to sedate someone so we could put their dislocated shoulder back in. The screaming as he slowly came round was horrific and went on for ages.

elastamum - are you sure about farmers shooting animals? it is illegal to bury them on farm......as far as I know they have to have the vet/knackerman

If someone knows what they're doing, then a quick end via a gun in familiar surroundings is probably a blessing. But it doesn't sound like your neighbour does know what he's doing, so YANBU.

It cost more than £20 to have our gerbil put down. £37 IIRC.

We charge £20 for euthanasia and another £20 if the owner wants us to have the dog cremated- he could have it done for £20 if he wanted to take it home and bury it himself. (I knew I was charging too little!!)

smarty I'm sorry your dog didn't have a great end I really don't like to have to muzzle dogs at the end and will always give them a big dose of sedative instead, then wait.

I let my old boy go last week, aged 16.5. I could have done it at home, but I actually preferred to have DH bring him (and dd2 and witchy-dog) to the surgery. I'm fine to go to follk's houses, but many dogs are actually more stressed at a vet coming into their own home, and it's not always easier. I try hard to get my patients to enjoy coming to us (we do LOTS of bribery with biscuits ) and I have only had one dog so far (who had never been to us before) that has had to be sedated before PTS.

£20? I had my dog put to sleep two years ago, and to have her pts with cremation and the ashes returned to me it was £220!.

I think this man sounds all bravado tbh. "oh I just took him down the woods and gave him a shot of ketamine" sounds like the sort of tale someone would spin on a drunken night out.

Just as an aside jooly you seem like a lovely vet have some

Well he's certainly not a dog lover is he? I find that shocking, actually, more that a dog owner would be rather kill his own beloved pet than have a trained professional do it.