Euthanasia – Murder or Mercy? My cat passed away the other day. She had been sick for a while and took a stroke the day earlier. A decision had to be made; by chance I didn’t have to make that choice she passed quietly in her sleep in the wee hours of the morning. But it got me to thinking how many timeshave you heard someone say they had to put their pet to sleep because they were sick and suffering, in pain, there was nothing left to do but be merciful and put them out of their misery. Why is it that we, as human beings, have more compassion for our animals than we do for our loved ones? Through advanced directives and Rights of the Terminally Ill Act of 1985 aperson is allowed to declare a living will specifying that, if the situation arises, he or she does not wish to be kept alive through life support. This essentially means someone can chose not toreceive treatment or have efforts made to keep them alive. But they cannot choose to die how and when they want. Have you ever sat with someone who is dying? In the healthcare industry I encounter this quite often. Patients can experience extreme pain, so much so, that even opiates will notalleviate it or they become almost totally unresponsive due to the drugs in their system. Most lose the desire to eat or ability to swallow, making consuming food and drinking impossible, so food is withheld resulting in weight and muscle loss, and they linger until the body can no longer sustain itself. Organs begin to fail; the kidneys shutdown causing decrease urine output and the urine become a thick dark brownish color, along with loss of bladder and bowel control. Skinbreakdown often occurs resulting in bedsores, painful red sometimes ulcerated areas. The brainshuts down, a patient is usually not aware of where they are or who else is in the room, they speak2 / 3and reply less often, some even respond to people