Posted By:
T EI'm 51 and I can honestly say that the actual moment you realize that you have to put the animal down is unbearable. At some point, I am afraid the owners of Barbaro are going to have to come to the same conclusion as I did for Princess, Midnight, Skeezix, Layla, and many more I can't recall. There is a responsibility to owning an animal. They can keep a horse alive for a long time, but the question is, towards what end? A horse that can not stand soundly on all four legs is eventually doomed.
I had a cat once. His name was Pooh (my sister named him-I don't give my critters sissy names!) Very personable, friendly animal.
Pooh was quite old. I forget what exactly was ailing him, but after a couple of visits, the vet hinted that it was time. I decided to try treatment for another week.
I was working hard that week, long days. My wife was away. Every morning I'd give Pooh his pills and go off to work. I'd get home at night and the animal hadn't moved. He'd sipped a bit of the water I'd left by him, perhaps climbed into the sand box I'd left by him, but he hadn't touched the food. He'd either stare at me or close his eyes.
After several days of this, I decided, when I left him alone on my way to work that morning, that it was time. I called the vet from work and told him I was bringing him in after work.
When I got home that night, he was dead. He looked very peacful. Hadn't moved, no excretions, just dead. I took him and buried him in Central Park.
It struck me that he was quite brave, that he knew it was time to die, and he willed it so.
But, of course, I may just have been projecting my feelings onto him. We can rationalize misery, but an animal can't.