This is a difficult post to make. I am not going to hide behind a pseudonym. I am somewhat fearful it may be misunderstood, misinterpreted, misconstrued and land me in some trouble but can I urge you all to hear me out this most difficult of moral and ethical dilemmas that we as humans face – the right to die in comfort and dignity.

I am a vet. Part of my job is to put animals to sleep.

Many people say to me that it must be the most difficult part of my job.

My honest answer back to them that whilst I would of course prefer never ‘have’ to put any animal to sleep what would be infinitely worse would be if I was not ‘able’ to put them to sleep, if I was prevented by law from doing so and for that reason I do not see this as the most difficult part of my job. The most difficult part is having to break the news that there is nothing else I can do for a pet to save their life, that nature has beaten us, that death is inevitable.

How sad it is that a pet reaches the end of its life, of course. But what a responsibility it is that once we know this that we ensure the last portion of their life is as good and as comfortable and pain free as possible, and that their passing on is as dignified and as pain free and as comfortable as possible.

So my job is to keep this poor pet as well and as comfortable as possible for as long as possible and then, when it is clear there is nothing else that can be done, that their quality of life has deteriorated beyond what is humanely acceptable, that we let them go with dignity and in comfort by in essence administering an anaesthetic overdose. It’s quick, painless, dignified. They fall into a deep sleep, they pass on with their last memory being a loving rub and kind gentle words.

How much sadder, and inhumane, and awful, and heartbreaking would it be if the only thing I could do for these poor animals who have only a very short period of ‘life’ – of painful horrible end-of-life, not able to move without pain, eat, drink, in constant discomfort and/or pain – was to send them home to die in that awful pain, discomfort, distress and to force their poor owners to watch them go through this.

I see my ability to put animals who are at the end of their lives to sleep as a great responsibility that must only be reserved for those pets who really are in their final days. It must never be abused. However I also see it as a great privilege, the ultimate kindness that allows me to ensure that they do not have to go through those final awful days or weeks, suffering for no reason. That they can leave this life with dignity. That they can pass on from their discomfort quickly, painlessly, peacefully and in the comfort and reassurance of a loving embrace from their owners in their final minutes.

I watched my poor mother die an awful death from cancer. I sat beside her and watched her suffer and die and thank God saw I saw her afforded the comfort of morphine in her final days, with her passing hastened by the very same drug that relieved her intolerable terminal agony.

I heard her say to me that she wished she could have made the decision to die before she went through the final torture.

That if she were a dog, if I were her vet, that this could have been afforded to her. She said this to me.

She wished she was a dog, for dogs would not be made to suffer like she was. These were her words.

I hear it from many of my clients whose pet I have put to sleep that they wish that they could be afforded the same dignity and freedom from terminal suffering that their pet was.

Human euthanasia is a massive moral and ethical dilemma. When is the right time? Could the person have had more time in this life? Could it be abused to cause the premature death of those who may have wished to live longer?

However my view is that there has to be a way for those of sound mind but a body which is causing them terrible suffering to be allowed to pass on before those final awful horrible painful days and weeks.

I wish this poor girl the very best and I salute her courage. May she live her remaining days in peace and comfort. May she die in peace and dignity surrounded by those she loves. May her family be joyful for the life she had and always remember her for the wonderful person she was.