To think this dog shouldn’t be put down for causing this injury?

[QueenofmyPrinces]

I was talking to a colleague yesterday who was telling me that he was having to leave work early as his elderly uncle was in the local A&E and he was picking him up.

I asked what had happened and he said he’d been walking his dog (as in it was my colleague’s dog) that afternoon who had pulled on the lead which caused his uncle to fall over. It had happened in a park and the uncle fallen on a gravel pathway and cut one of his hands quite deeply which needed cleaning out and stitching under local anaesthetic.

My colleague said his uncle walks the dog during the afternoon so he gets an opportunity to go to the toilet and have some fresh air as my colleague isn’t usually home until 7.30pm-ish.

Anyway, my colleague has said that his dog isn’t safe if he can’t be trusted to not pull on the lead and that as he can’t risk his dog causing anymore injuries he’s going to have him put down.

I was really shocked and my facial reaction couldn’t hide it. I’m not a dog lover particularly but I was genuinely taken aback that this was his answer to his problem.

He’s had this dog for about 8 years, it’s a spaniel of some sort and he’s always talked fondly of it so I’m surprised that he’s decided to have it put down for causing an accidental injury. It just seems a bit harsh?

Surely he could just find someone rather than his elderly uncle to walk the dog, someone who is able to manage a dog who pulls on their lead? My colleague is in his early 50’s so the uncle must be quite old?

I’m no dog expert at all but it just seemed very extreme. I feel a bit sorry for the dog to be honest

Oh god, that's awful. There usually is a breed rescue who might be able to help, I'm guessing if it's made easy for him to rehome ie you organise it then the PTS won't happen. It's a difficult decision, but if I were you I'd be trying everything to save the poor dog.

If I operated the same kill policy none of my dogs would be alive today!

Seriously WTF is wrong with people. If the dog pulls you train it, get someome to walk it or rehome it through a reputable rescue. This sought of bullcrap makes my blood boil and is the reason why i prefer dogs to humans.

DH is a vet and yes euthanasia of healthy animals happens all the time,
Keepin an unwanted dog alive is in noones interests- especially the dogs.Also people have pets pts when they cant/don't wish to pay for treatment

Your colleague is a selfish, cruel, ignorant twat. He’s using it as a excuse. If he can’t train a spaniel to walk properly on a lead, he should never have got a dog. Please get your colleague to take him to Dogs Trust or a breed rescue. Pulling on a lead can be rectified really easily. I can only hope that a vet would refuse to put down a dog for such a ridiculous reason.

This is terrible, surely he has a bond with the dog considering he's had it for 8 years!? I highly doubt a vet would put a dog down for this reason alone. Can you keep us informed OP? Hopefully the vet tells him to jog on and the poor pooch is rehomed 😕

This is so sad! Your colleague could so easily get in touch with a rescue centre and the dog could be re-homed to a loving family. If the dogs a pedigree then lots of breeds have groups that specifically rehome or provide temporary foster homes dogs of that type.

Maybe the dog has caused other injuries and this is the final straw. Or maybe the dog has some kind of health condition that manifests itself in increasingly erratic behaviour and the owner thinks it’s kibder to put it dusk now before the dog becomes properly violent or gets regularly upset. 8 isn’t exactly young for a dog. I really doubt that anyone would put down a dog they’d been raising for eight years over this.

YANBU but no vet will put a dog to sleep because it pulled on the lead.

ALL dogs pull at some point. Mostly you can train it out of them but lots still do it when they see a squirrel or a bird or another dog they want to play with. It's normal behaviour! Not dangerous at all (unless the owner isn't concentrating or strong enough to handle the dog) and certainly not a reason to put it to sleep.

Yes a vet would, if the owner's mind was made up, although we would not enjoy it.

I think that's appalling. Can you not refuse and take the dog to rescue?

Some people argue that PTS is better than putting a dog through being rehomed. I don't think it would be in my heart to do it though.

That's horrendous. Get him to contact Spaniel Aid if he really wants rid of the poor thing. God, this has really upset me :(

Wow 😭. Poor dog. All your idiot colleague needs is a harness or other device to reduce pulling. And to have spent time training the poor animal.

I lived in Germany and it’s against the law to put and animal down unless it is for the welfare of the animal. Ie to end suffering. The vet had to justify any euthanasia and there was some kind of licence to have my dog PTS.

Absolute joke. Your colleague is a wanker. Unfortunately a vet would do this, or try to persuade the owner to sign the dog over. Dogs are seen as property. I know of a few stupid reasons for dogs being PTS sadly

How heartbreaking that some vets PTS purely because they feel the animal will be cruelly killed by its owners if the vet refuses to do it

My colleague isn’t in work again until tomorrow so I don’t actually know what has come of it.

He’s never given the impression the dog is erratic or dangerous, like I said, he’s always talked very fondly of it.

I’m really hoping his comment was a knee jerk reaction following the incident and that by tomorrow he will have changed his mind.

This is obscene. The law needs to change so this is an animal cruelty offence.

Your colleague is an utterly selfish cunt btw.

That's awful! I really hope he doesn't go through with it or that the vet refuses and redirects him to a rescue.

It depends. If the dog pulled him over when it was trying to attack another dog, then he's probably right. If it was just a bit excited then this doesn't seem right.

And vets do euthanize healthy dogs. A friend of mine went up before the vet equivalent of the GMC (wrist slap) for not putting down a barking dog - wasn't a refusal, instead he neutered and rehomed.

This is awful, he is essentially putting him down just for being a dog.

Of course he pulled! Dogs need exercise and training.

I mean, if the dog was being more aggressive than his uncle can handle then he can't keep it, not that it needs to be put down.

Your colleague is an arsehole who is using a convenient albeit idiotic excuse to get rid of an inconvenience.

LadyM I agree about the Edinburgh fuck nut who got a dog to lick peanut butter off his cock and balls.

RIP Biggie Smalls best name for a willy eating dog ever, mind

He sounds like a heartless POS.
If he had trained it properly in the first place it wouldn’t pull. Why can’t he just regime it if he can’t be bothered rather than end the poor things life .
What a c U next Tuesday

• rehome!

Omg please tell him not to do this..tell him you will take the dog if you have to and rehome it yourself this is awful.

In answer to the above. Vets can refuse to euthanise a healthy animal but cannot force the owner to sign ownership over to us, so could not force him to take it to a rescue for example if he refused to sign the paperwork.
Finding a rescue to take on a dog with issues is very difficult and is not always in the best interest of the dog. In this case it does not sound like the dog is aggressive but people often do tell lies to get rid of dogs they don’t want.

More often than not people will sign over, however this becomes a grey area with the likes of dogs who have bitten or caused harm as it would be very damaging to the vet in question if the dog went on to do it again after a vet refused euthanasia in the first place.