Euthanasia – The Thin Red Line of (Com)passion

"Doctor, just give him an injection so he doesn't suffer. He's old, he can't see, I think he can't hear either, he smells bad and he's started having accidents indoors."

"We've had her since she was tiny, we can see she's suffering, but we can't part with her – we've been together 16 years!"

Two worlds. Two worldviews. Several fates and many feelings. And in the middle, on the border, stand I – the veterinarian. On the thin red line between morality and compassion.

To decide whether to be or not to be. To judge whether I can relieve the suffering, how far I can take the fear and pain out of the patient's eyes.

Human law allows us veterinarians to do this. A thin red line. To be or not to be. Whether to leave everything in God's hands or to grant compassion. It is not easy, even when you know and feel that you are right and doing good. But you do it. Because you must. Because that way there is a little less suffering in the world.