Category Archives: Euthanasia

INDIANAPOLIS The Indianapolis Animal Care Services (IACS) has stated that they are dealing with a perfect storm of chaos going on and are in desperate need of any kind of help at their shelter.

Theyre over capacity, have no room to add crates for more animals and even staffing is down by about 20 percent. Staff members said its leading to more stress for everyone, including the animals.

We know as bad as we are right now, if we dont have some movement of animals out of the building and slow animals coming in, we are going to be forced to euthanize more animals, said Katie Trennepohl, the deputy director of IACS.

The only way weve gotten through the last few weeks is because our staff has gone above and beyond what their normal job duties are, everybody in this building has taken on extra tasks, our volunteers have picked up extra shifts, thats the only way were getting the minimum care for these animals done.

Theyre asking people to foster, adopt, volunteer or apply for a position.

Right now, adoptions are free if you donate items from the IACS wish list. If you have animals that you have to surrender, IACS is encouraging alternatives (such as posting and sharing on social media) rather than dropping the animal off at the shelter, as they have had to euthanize animals.

What we really need the public to understand is that when were asking them to make appointments, and were asking them to find alternatives, its not because we dont care, its actually because we dont want animals to die, Trennepohl said. Its a life or death situation right now.

IACS is in critical need of animal control officers, kennel techs, veterinary assistants and kennel supervisors. They are hiring right now.

Its hard coming in and not knowing if the dog you love is going to be there the next day because when were out of space like this, sometimes the only choice is euthanasia so I know that has taken a big hit on our morale, said Morgan Murphy, a vet assistant at IACS. Were so over capacity that its hard on the staff and volunteers emotionally and physically, its a lot more than the shelter was designed for.

Those who wish to help out may do so online. Adoptable pets can be viewed on PetFinder.

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Indianapolis Animal Care Services in desperate need of help or will have to begin euthanasia - Fox 59

(Pornpak Khunatorn/Getty Images)

Governor Andrew Cuomos New York wasnt the only government that inflicted blatant harm and unnecessary death on elders during during the Covid pandemic. Quebec did too. From the Toronto Sun story:

Systemic ageism, outdated health-care facilities and government reforms contributed to the tragedy that unfolded in the provinces long-term care homes during the first wave of COVID-19, a former Quebec health minister told a coroners inquest on Monday.

Rjean Hbert, who is also a gerontologist, told coroner Ghane Kamel that nearly 10 per cent of the provinces long-term care patients died of COVID-19 in the early months of the pandemic a rate five times higher compared to Canada as a whole.

It didnt start with Covid:

Hbert, who served as health minister under former premier Pauline Marois, said that even before the pandemic there was a tendency to shift health-care resources toward other priorities, leading to a lack of doctors and nurses to care for vulnerable seniors in care homes. As a result, the homes were no longer able to provide acute care, forcing them to transfer distressed patients to hospital, which was extremely difficult for those with cognitive impairments, he said.

Hbert also pointed to outdated facilities where patients were subjected to inadequate ventilation and forced to share bedrooms and bathrooms as factors that contributed to Quebecs high mortality rate.

Now, do you think that this clear warning about the threat to elders caused by systemic ageism will be applied as Quebec and the rest of Canada expand access to euthansia among the elderly? Is Putin a friend of Ukraine?

The media will often report in detail and with righteous indignation about varied failings and abuses in health-care systems such as the drumbeat of criticism often seen against HMOs in the states. But these crucial questions are often forgotten once the subject turns to euthanasia.

I call this phenomenon Euthanasia Land, a magical realm of chirping birds and butterflies, where systemic failures in health-care and social policy disappear and life terminations happen only under the most rigorous protective guidelines and by the most deeply caring and compassionate medical personnel.

But Euthanasia Land isnt real. The crises reported in this story have equal impact on doctor-prescribed death as they do lapses in proper care. They are just far less discussed.

Consider the Canadian woman who was euthanized because she didnt want to be lonely during Covid lockdowns. She wasnt allowed family visitors while she was alive, but they were allowed to be with her when her doctor killed her. She wasnt the only such victim, either. A Canadian government study found that hundreds of people who died by euthanasia in 2019 requested death at least in part due to loneliness and isolation.

But none of that stops the death juggernaut. When these horrors are reported, which isnt often, they are soon forgotten.

Would it have been too much for the critics of the elder-care in Quebec and the reporter, for that matter to connect these crucial dots, and thereby open a vital conversation about how these same systemic problems also impact the provision of euthanasia?

Ill bet the thought didnt occur to them because, somehow, it never does.

Excerpt from:

'Systemic Ageism' Blamed for Excess COVID Deaths, Ignored with Euthanasia - National Review

Holiday dog adoptions todaySaturday

Help a furry friend find a new home for the holidays on Saturday, Dec. 18, when SAFE Pet Rescue of St. Augustine brings its mobile adoption van to the Ponte Vedra Pet Supermarket store, 880 A1A N.

From 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be lots of fun festivities to enjoy. Take your pets picture with Santa, enjoy some live holiday music by a local guitarist, sample tasty treats at the bake sale, browse some crafty items, sip hot cocoa and best of all meet and greet our wonderful rescue dogs, who hope you will choose one of them to be part of your family this holiday season.

Invite your family, friends and neighbors to these dogs some much needed love while supporting SAFE Pet Rescue in its mission save animals from euthanasia. To learn more, go to Safe-Pet-Rescue-FL.com.

All aboard the Holiday Express Trains, which return to the Beaches Branch Library on Saturday, Dec. 18.

Leading off this years opening day will be the Hogwarts Express along with the Polar Express. The Polar Express will be running most days along with other historic trains and/or holiday-oriented trains varying throughout the week. This years expanded layout also includes a Polar Express village at one end and an operating carnival at the other end.

The library is located at 600 Third St., Neptune Beach, and the exhibit runs through Friday, Dec. 31. For hours of operation or more information, visit the Locations page at JaxPublicLibrary.org or call (904) 255-2665.

Discover 21 uniquely decorated trees, each with a distinct theme, at this special after-hours event at the St. Augustine Lighthouse, which takes place on select days through Friday, Jan. 21, 2022. Visitors may explore the Keepers House and grounds illuminated by lights and festive garlands, as well as a sensational view of the lighthouses night mark.

Tickets are $19.95 for adults, $17.95 for children ages 12 and under. For more information regarding ticket availability and pricing, visit StAugustineLighthouse.org.

The City of Atlantic Beach hosts monthly exhibits that feature works of photography or paintings by local artists. Meet January's featured artist, Caitlin Flynn, at a reception on Saturday, Jan. 8, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Adele Grage Cultural Center, 716 Ocean Blvd.

Musical entertainment and refreshments will also be provided.

Flynns contemporary, figurative and landscape paintings will be on display throughout January. A second reception will also take place on Thursday, Jan. 20. Visit coab.us/artgallery, email recreation@coab.us or call (904) 247-5828 for more information.

Enjoy an evening of performances from local artists on Sunday, Jan. 9 as they transform Gulliford Hall at the Adele Grage Cultural Center from 6 to 8 p.m. with original music.

The event is hosted by Doors open at 5:45 p.m. Seating is first-come, first-served. Email atlanticbeachmusic@gmail.com or recreation@coab.us, or call (904) 247-5828, for information.

Want more shade in your yard? Atlantic Beachs newly updated Chapter 23 of the Code of Ordinances expands the use of tree-conservation funds to plant trees in front yards on private property. These "Adopt-a-Tree" funds come from property owners who pay into the tree-conservation fund, which is earmarked to expand the public tree canopy.

In an effort to evenly distribute the tree-conservation funds, two trees per calendar year, per property may be planted. The plantings will occur in the spring and fall. Once planted, the property owner is responsible for maintaining the trees.

Go to https://bit.ly/3pfGKQM to complete an application for a free tree. City staff will review your requested tree location to determine if there are any site restrictions, which could include overhead or underground utilities, drainage areas and swales, easements, existing tree canopy, etc.

For information, email trees@coab.us.

Submit events to shorelines@jacksonville.com.

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Holiday choo-choos, a decorated lighthouse, art openings: Things to do around the Beaches - The Florida Times-Union

We have heard families in Scotland describe immense distress as their loved ones died.

We have great respect for their courage and sympathy for their suffering.

How best should we respond?

There is no doubt that it must be with compassion and respect, but introducing state-assisted suicide is not the answer.

Doctors across Scotland are campaigning for improved access to, funding and research in specialist palliative care for these people, while opposing doctor-assisted suicide.

Currently the law prohibits the intentional taking of life.

Why? Because of the high value and worth that we traditionally place on all human life.

The primary danger of assisted suicide is that individuals are devalued by society because they require care or are unproductive.

Societal values affect how we see ourselves as individuals with worth and dignity, or as a burden?

Dr Wright was recently contacted by a frail elderly man urging her to oppose this measure.

He said: I will begin to think I ought to take my own life.

Why should the state keep paying for my care?

If you give me the option, perhaps it would be less selfish to those I love for me to take my own life.

Healthcare professionals need to affirm his value and worth, not acquiesce that his life is no longer worth living.

Its hard enough to detect external coercion in an interview, this kind of internal coercion will be both more common and more difficult to deal with.

The current law is the safeguard, and for their sake it should remain.

Many countries who have legalised assisted suicide have found the criteria slowly widening.

In Belgium, their Intensive Care society now recommends euthanasia without request for those unlikely to fully recover.

One study found that half of cases of euthanasia there were not reported, and happened without the formal protections.

In Holland, euthanasia without request has extended to disabled babies and people with intellectual disabilities.

Every psychiatrist has experienced having to fight for life-extending treatments for our patients, who are often assumed to have little quality of life, often without the patients view being requested.

Former US President Thomas Jefferson wrote: The measure of a society is how it treats is weakest members.

The benefits of any change will be felt by those who are educated, articulate and empowered.

The costs fall on those who are the most vulnerable, who are confused, the frail elderly or those who have intellectual disabilities.

The current law is the safeguard, and for their sake it should remain.

Dr Gillian Wright is a palliative care specialist and director of Our Duty of Care, which represents healthcare professionals opposing the legalisation of assisted dying in Scotland.

Dr Jenny Bryden is a psychiatrist who previously worked at the Royal Cornhill Hospital.

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OPINION: 'Introducing state-assisted suicide is not the answer' - Press and Journal

San Diego Community News Group

San Diego Humane Society is hoping its largest year-end matching gift challenge ever, theHoliday Drive to Save Lives, will inspire San Diegans to support the organizations lifesaving work this season. Thanks to a generous $500,000 match from the Resource Partners Foundation, donations made to San Diego Humane Society through Dec. 31 will be doubled to provide twice the safe shelter, lifesaving veterinary care and rescue from cruelty and neglect for more than 40,000 animals in the coming year.

The funds raised during the Holiday Drive to Save Lives make it possible for San Diego Humane Society to provide care that goes far beyond that found in traditional shelters including advanced veterinary medicine, a Kitten Nursery and a Behavior and Training program. These programs help San Diego County Stay at Zero euthanasia of healthy and treatable shelter animals, and give pets like Poki, the dog pictured above, the second chance they deserve.

Poki was relinquished to San Diego Humane Society in April of 2021 by a family who bought him as a puppy on Craigslist and was unable to care for him. San Diego Humane Societys team immediately recognized that Poki showed resource guarding behaviors and was fearful of people. Poki would hide in his crate and growl, asking trainers to stay away, said Amanda Kowalski, San Diego Humane Society Director of Behavior programs. The dedicated trainers and animal caregivers at our state-of-the-art Behavior Center worked with Poki daily for four months, helping him overcome his behavioral challenges and be ready for life in a loving home.

In communities that cant offer the appropriate behavioral support, many dogs like Poki face the heartbreaking possibility of euthanasia, said Brian Daugherty, San Diego Humane Society SVP and chief of philanthropy and communications. Thats why our Behavior and Training program is such an important part of how we save lives. And its why our Holiday Drive to Save Lives is so important. Poki is a perfect example of the specialized care we can provide animals at San Diego Humane Society because of the generosity of our community.

The $500,000 match from the Resource Partners Foundation is the largest match San Diego Humane Society has ever had. To donate and double your contribution, visitsdhmane.org/matchingor textholidaydrive to 50155 before Dec. 31.

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SDHS Holiday Drive to Save Lives: year-end matching challenge - San Diego Humane Society is hoping its largest year-end matching gift challenge ever...

We said goodbye to a beloved 17-year-old dog this week. She had rapidly lost quality of life. As sad as it was, few would have any qualms whatsoever with the vets provision of humane, painless, and sensible euthanasia. But whats going on with medical interventions at the great miracle of birth?

Its no secret that humans commonly push the boundaries of scientific possibility for better or for worse. Traditionally, interruptions in the natural birthing process have been overwhelmingly in the for better category.

Caesarean sections may not have been a desirable option for women prior to the advent of modern surgical techniques uterine suturing, for example not to mention anesthesia. But in the modern era, there can be no doubt that for countless millions of mothers and babies, the C section has saved their lives.

Whats questionable now are the projections. And concerns about C sections are just the start.

A report in the British Medical Journal Global Health states, by 2030, 28.5% of women worldwide will give birth by CS (38million caesareans annually). That figure ranges wildly from place to place, with rates as low as 7.1% in sub-Saharan Africa and as high as 63.4 percent in Eastern Asia.

In some parts of Africa rates are skyrocketing. For instance, between 2017 and 2020, data on payouts made to Kenyan hospitals as compensation for birth-related services showed an almost 10,000 percent increase for C sections.

The safety of mother and child is the right rationale for decision making. A Caesarean might be planned to mitigate problem pregnancies, or become an urgent procedure if labour is not progressing and mother or baby is in distress.

A natural birth is the better option for healthy pregnancies. The risks of heavier bleeding, infection, blood clots, surgical errors, and higher complication rates for future pregnancies are part of the story. Slower recovery times after C sections combine with delays in establishing breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact.

The benefits of kangaroo care to the newborn include greater respiratory, temperature, and glucose stability, as well as decreased stress. Mothers and fathers who hold their newborns skin to skin after birth have increased parental attachment, more confidence in caring for their babies and longer breastfeeding duration.

Yet, with one in four births now being Caesarian sections, there is mounting evidence that the medical rational is being overtaken by a convenience factor. Some doctors report being pressured by patients for C sections for unjustified reasons for example, to plan the day of the birth to coincide with a relatives birthday or to avoid a holiday. Some patients give in to the convenience of doctors schedules.

But these issues are childs play compared to those at the forefront of scientific advances involving birth. Artificial wombs are in development. A study published in Nature Communications in 2017 demonstrated the use of a liquid-filled, plastic apparatus allowing premature lambs an additional four weeks of growth in a simulated womb.

It is only a matter of time. The definition of ectogenesis, the development of an embryo in an artificial environment, used to include the caveat chiefly in science fiction. But artificial wombs are a rapidly advancing technology that will change the nature of mammalian reproduction, we humans included.

Parents wondering about the future employment prospects of their children might want to direct them to the study of ethics. We still have time to think this through and put in place a set of rules. But it is a lot easier today to find pioneering scientists than thoughtful ethicists.

Dr. W. Gifford-Jones is a graduate of the University of Toronto and the Harvard Medical School. For more than 40 years, he specialized in gynecology, devoting his practice to the formative issues of womens health.

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Common Sense Health: A look at the changing nature of birth - The Independent

By Cheng Ming-hsiang and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer

The number of strays dying in Taipeis animal shelters has increased over the past two years, despite a ban on euthanasia, said a source on Sunday, who called on Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je () to address the situation.

Last year, deaths among stray animals in shelters reached a four-year high of 6.01 percent and as of October the figure was 4.38 percent, the source said.

Taipei Deputy Mayor Vivian Huang () said that the deaths were partially attributable to aging.

Photo courtesy of Taipei City Councilor Yang Ching-yu

The city has added adoption relay stations and has planned renovations at existing stations, Huang said, adding that the facilities would be doubled in size.

The city since 2019 has planned to renovate its main animal shelter, the Taipei Animal Protection Office, on Tanmei Street in Neihu District () and build a new 3,400 ping (11,240m2) facility, the source said.

However, due to Kos concern that the NT$700 million (US$25.18 million) required to build the new facility as well as NT$200 million for waste management was too expensive, the plans have stalled, the source said.

Because Ko has shifted back and forth on his animal shelter policy, city shelters are getting crowded, creating a bad environment for the animals, the source said. Last year more than 200 strays died in the citys shelters.

The animal euthanasia ban went into effect in 2017 and the following year the number of strays that died in shelters increased by 3.91 percent, the source said, adding that the proportion has been increasing each year since then.

The number of strays at the Tanmei facility is already double its intended capacity, Taipei City Councilor Yang Ching-yu () said. Five to seven dogs share each pen.

There are also multiple cats in each cage lining the hallways, Yang said.

Yang, who is a trained vet, said that the animals would be distressed, fearing that they would need to compete for food.

The situation would worsen if the city does not expand the facilities, he said.

At least 2,900 ping is needed, he said, adding that the city should build a multifunction facility where animals could be trained and the public could be educated about pet adoption.

Taiwan Animal Protection Monitor Network secretary-general Ho Tsung-hsun () said that Taipei should follow the lead of other cities, such as Tainan, which neuters strays and promotes pet adoption, and New Taipei City, which trains strays as working dogs.

Taipei has the most resources, so it should find opportunities to help promote proper care of animals, Ho said.

Promoting adoption through the Taipei City Animal Protection Office alone would be ineffective, he said, adding that Ko should find better solutions to boost adoption rates.

Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.

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Deaths of strays in Taipei shelters have risen, critic says -

//= do_shortcode('[in-content-square]')?> Steve Jetley and Tina Humphrey

The widower of a Britains Got Talent finalist has spoken out in favour of legislation allowing assisted dying.

Tina Humphrey, who made it to the finals of Britains Got Talent in 2010, took her own life while in the final stages of metastatic melanoma, an aggressive cancer in 2017.

Her widow, Steve Jetley, who lives in Powys, said that he backed a change in the law after it was raised in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons last week.

Tina, 45, and her dog Chandi reached the final of Britains Got Talent in 2010 after wowing viewers with their dance routines. She died age 45 in May 2017 after taking her own life.

Currently, under the 1961 Suicide Act, anyone in England and Wales who helps another person die could face a maximum jail term of 14 years.

Opponents of assisted dying fear it would place pressure on vulnerable people to end their lives for fear of being a financial, emotional or care burden upon others.

But Steve Jetley said that Tina Humphreys last days involved excruciating pain and that if assisted dying had been legal her death would have been a more comfortable one.

After attempting to take her own life Tina had expected she would fall asleep and die soon after, Steve Jetley but because she was unable to ask for assistance from someone medically qualified that did not happen.

Instead she slipped in and out of consciousness while she struggled to breath. She didnt die for another 15 hours.

Dont understand

Campaign groups such as Care Not Killing argue that persistent requests for euthanasia are extremely rare if people are properly cared for and so the priority must be to ensure that good care addressing peoples physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs is accessible to all.

They also point to the fact that despite being legal in other countries, the number of British people travelling abroad for the purposes of euthanasia is very small compared to numbers in countries that have legalised assisted suicide or euthanasia.

Steve Jetley however said that when his wife decided to choose the time and manner of her death herself, he knew she wasnt going to change her mind, and that dying on her own terms was so important to her.

She desperately wanted to live but that choice had been taken away by the cancer and so I supported her choice to shorten her suffering, he said.

I feel guilty, terribly guilty that she didnt have the peaceful death she so wanted. I have nightmares about it all the time. I also feel terribly angry about the cruelty of the current law. Thats why it must change, so people can have the choice to die peacefully, which Tina and so many others have been denied.

I dont understand the opposition to changes in the law. These people arent taking their own life thats already been taken away. They are shortening their death.

Steve, who attended Dignity in Dyings demonstration outside the House of Lords during the Second Reading of the Assisted Dying Bill in October, has contributed to a new report from the campaign group.

EntitledLast Resort: The hidden truth about how dying people take their own lives in the UK, it estimates that under the ban on assisted dying up to 650 dying citizens take their own lives every year, with up to 6500 attempting to do so.

This is in addition to 50 Brits a year who travel to Switzerland for an assisted death and 17 a day who suffer in pain as they die despite palliative care.

Polling released as part of the report suggests that seven in 10 Brits believe there is a distinction between assisted dying and suicide, and seven in 10 feel suicide prevention measures should not stop terminally ill people seeking assisted death.

Clear

Last week, the Rt Hon Andrew Mitchell MP, co-chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Choice at the End of life, spoke in an adjournment debate in the House of Commons calling for a clear process of reform of assisted dying laws in England and Wales.

In October an Assisted Dying Bill brought by Dignity in Dyings chair, crossbench peer Baroness Meacher, passed its Second Reading unopposed in the House of Lords.

The Bill proposes that terminally ill, mentally competent adults who have been given six months or less to live should have the choice of a safe, legal assisted death, subject to strict safeguards.

Sarah Wootton, Chief Executive of Dignity in Dying, said that the Bill represents a safer, fairer, more compassionate response to the desire of many terminally ill citizens for greater choice at the end of their lives.

We need a clear process in Westminster reforming the outdated status quo, with proper time set aside for this crucial debate, he said.

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Widower of Britain's Got Talent star backs assisted dying law - Nation.Cymru

posted by Sentinel-TimesDecember 8, 2021News

A LIVE Humpback whale which washed up at Honeysuckles on Ninety Mile Beach near Seaspray has been euthanised.

Rodney Vile, principal officer wildlife emergencies at Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) said: The Humpback whale is 10 metres long and was first reported on Monday by members of the community, with DELWP and Parks Victoria staff heading straight out to investigate.

The highest priority of crews and agencies working together at the site on Monday was caring for the welfare of the whale, he said.

The whale was assessed and cared for by veterinarians from Zoos Victoria and found to be in very poor condition.

Due to the whales condition, euthanasia was the only option to respond humanely to this event.

The whale was euthanised late Monday evening.

An exclusion zone has been established around the whale while DELWP considers all options for managing the carcass.

It is an offence for people or their dogs to be within 300 metres of a whale.

Whales are protected under the Wildlife Act regardless of whether they are dead or alive. It is an offence for a person to approach, interfere, take or be in possession of parts of a dead whale.

DELWP is working with the relevant agencies to monitor the carcass and determine management options going forward. Cultural Heritage specialists from DELWP, in partnership with Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC), are assisting in management advice for the carcass.

The public are urged to exercise caution as sharks may be present in higher concentration and closer to the shore than normal. A shark warning has been put in place for the local area. Keep informed of the latest information on the VicEmergency website and app.

For more information on staying safe around sharks, go to vfa.vic.gov.au/shark-smart.

Stay informed at emergency.vic.gov.au.

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Euthanasia 'only Option' For Whale Washed Ashore - South Gippsland Sentinel-Times

The Switzerland Federal Court overturned the conviction of a Geneva doctor who helped a healthy elderly woman in an assisted suicide so that she did not outlive her terminally ill husband.

Originally found guilty in 2019, Pierre Beck was sentenced to 120 days suspended jail sentence for breaking federal law. He administered a lethal dose of pre-anesthetic pentobarbital and a strong sedative to intentionally help end the life of an 86 year old woman. He was found guilty under the Therapeutic Products Act (TPA) and article 115 of the Swiss Criminal Code. That code states that assisted suicide based on selfish motives is punishable by imprisonment.

Appealing the case, the Federal Court overturned the 2019 decision finding that the TPA was invalid in this instance, as there is no medical indication for the prescription of pentobarbital, which is not used therapeutically with healthy people, rendering the TPA invalid. It was a case that divided the presiding judgesas the 3:2 decision also found thatpentobarbitalwas included in the Narcotics Act.

Switzerland is one of few countries to have legalized assisted suicide in the 1940s; it has long been knownas a place for people to travel to for euthanasia or assisted dying. This decision comes after the recent invention of an assisted suicide chamber, known as the Sarco device, was introduced and permitted under Swiss Federal Law.

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Swiss Supreme Court overturn sentence of doctor who assisted the suicide of healthy elderly woman - JURIST