Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-skm99 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-27T18:06:04.806Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

6 - A Doggone Shame

Hard Decisions about Euthanasia and Dogs’ Lives

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 January 2024

David L. Weimer
Affiliation:
University of Wisconsin, Madison
Aidan R. Vining
Affiliation:
Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
Get access

Summary

In Chapter 6, we confront the reality that many dog owners must eventually face decisions about their dogs’ end-of-life, potentially including hard decisions about euthanasia or costly medical interventions. We frame these decisions about ending life in terms of the owners’ fiduciary responsibilities and what they imply across different property rights regimes. We show how framing the relationship between dogs and humans in terms of principal-agent theory may offer some novel insights about responsibilities. We explore the appropriateness of euthanasia and how individual preferences and societal perspectives on its appropriateness have changed over time. We then examine the growth in pet health insurance and pre-paid veterinary plans and how this growth affects the economics of the choice between various treatments and euthanasia. We conclude by considering how individual and societal attitudes toward the use of dogs in medical research have changed over time. Nonetheless, although the number of dogs used in research has declined in recent years, many dogs still suffer and experience premature death.

Type
Chapter
Information
Dog Economics
Perspectives on Our Canine Relationships
, pp. 113 - 136
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2024

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure coreplatform@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

  • A Doggone Shame
  • David L. Weimer, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Aidan R. Vining, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
  • Book: Dog Economics
  • Online publication: 11 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009445504.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • A Doggone Shame
  • David L. Weimer, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Aidan R. Vining, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
  • Book: Dog Economics
  • Online publication: 11 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009445504.007
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • A Doggone Shame
  • David L. Weimer, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Aidan R. Vining, Simon Fraser University, British Columbia
  • Book: Dog Economics
  • Online publication: 11 January 2024
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009445504.007
Available formats
×