Healthy Guide dog being put to sleep so it can be buried with it's owner?

[Sparklingbrook]

Here AIBU to feel really strange about this?

I wonder what the vet that put the dog to sleep said?

I have pmt and a cold which prevents me from reading the article but I am shocked and hope that this sort of thing is illegal, if it's not then it should be! Surely the dog could be rehomed/retired/work with someone else/come live here with me.

I do think the dog deserved a retirement.

I actually have guardians for my animals in my will, and provision to pay for them for the rest of their lives. I will never not have animals so I make sure I'm responsible for them.

To have them killed because I'm too selfish to be dead alone? Unthinkable.

If my Gran dies before her dog we will get the dog put down the same day. The dog is old, blind and has been with her its entire life, it needs to be given tranquilizers when they are apart. It would be cruel to let the dog live without her.

Selfish, can't believe the son actually went ahead and did it.

I would have put one of the dogs blankets in with her and then had the dogs ashes scattered on her grave when it eventually died.

That's awful.

The dog has given her every bit of his five years to work with her and help aid her life - and for that he pays with his own life. He could have retired, or worked with another person who needed him. Totally selfish.

And yes, a dog grieves (or can grieve) the absence of a person. But they also very much live "in the moment". They don't have the capacity to wish things were different. He could have been just as happy working with someone else.

Yes, dogs do grieve, but also (like most humans) recover and usually regain their equilibirum.

If she had stipulated the dog on his natural demise was to be buried with her - fairenuff. A bit corny IMO (as I believe that dead means finito), but heyho, each to their own and all that.

I read it and wished I hadn't, fucking bastard killing that 5 year old dog.

Just as well it wasn't a human who was her best friend.

Methinks son just couldn't be arsed to care for the dog and is trying to dress it up nicely.

My understanding of the UK situation is that an assistance animal remains the property of the organisation that trained it and can be reclaimed by them depending on the circumstances (owner abusing/mistreating/can no longer care for it). It's on loan to the disabled person. Seems sensible approach in light of this story.

That dog could have been rehoused with another blind person and put its manifold skill set to good use.

Kurri - I don't think so. They work together for months to be suitable and guide dogs have a "short" working life of something like 7 years and then they are retired.

Madam I can see that your case is different, and how distressing it would be for an old blind dog to lose it's owner. I hope your Gran and the dog can go on as long as possible. x

Ah - thank you Maggie, I thought that might be the case.

Sorry if this thread is upsetting. i hope I put enough info in the thread title for people to swerve it if need be.

Maybe she meant for the dog to be buried with her after it died naturally and the son got it horribly wrong? Otherwise that doesn't sound like any sort of love to me.

Can they go to a new person?

Another dog non-lover who nonetheless thinks guide dogs are incredible, intelligent and selfless creatures, and that killing a healthy one is fucking criminal.

I am not a dog person at all. But it just seems so wrong.

That is so wrong on so many levels.

it's wrong. The dog should have been rehomed as a pet.

I'm not a dog person either, but it still seems wrong. Mick Philpott on the other hand....well lets just say I think the dog is worth more.

You would have thought the family had grown close to the dog too, and as a thank you for being a great companion and guide dog let it live out it's life?

Oh MrsW I am so sorry. (((hugs)))

Disgusting.