Had to execute an animal

3 hours ago, around midnight, I found an opossum in my backyard. It had been torn up by my pet wolf and had a large, gaping hole in its side. its entrails were visible and it had bled all over the ground where I found it.

It was still alive and waddled into a corner of my yard. I knew it would eventually die but wanted to end its misery. I called the "Human Society" (what a jk) and they said they would not come euthanize the animal because "by time we get there to do it it'll probably be dead anyway." They advised me to put a towel over the animal and let it die slowly.... The police department was also no help. They were busy and didn't give me permission to use a .22 in the neighborhood.

After gathering up my nerve I took a spade shovel, went out to the yard, found it in the corner, and struck it hard and fast several times in the neck. I've never executed anything before and it deeply disturbed me. I know possums are hard to kill, but could it have survived with its entrails exposed? It seemed to take 2 hits for it to die and then there were immediate spasms of the tail after I broke/crushed the neck. I hit it about 8x in the neck, very hard, just to be certain tho. Have any of you had to do this to an animal before?

If I had a good sword I would've used that instead...the only melee kind of weapon I could use though was either a square or a spade shovel. Spade seemed more efficient.

I feel like # about it all. Guess I'm just looking for someone to know what happened. I love animals and this was one of the hardest things I had to do. I'm not gonna sleep well.

reply to post by TheLegend


This is sad and painful. I can feel you did what you thought best. You did not act impulsively, you acted out of compassion. Peace to you. You have nothing to feel guilty about.

reply to post by TheLegend



Really sorry to hear about this experience. I do think you made the right choice, so don't beat yourself up over it. You did the little guy a favor. You were much more merciful than Mother Nature would have been.

well you still did the right thing regardless how hard it was . sorry you had to go threw that i probably wouldn't sleep to well either .

now i probably won't sleep well be thinking about being in your shoes , poor little guy
eta ... because i have more respect for animals than i do most humans

Tough one, brother. I feel your pain. Peace.

As many are I am a true animal lover. I do believe you did something very difficult but necessary to prevent prolonged suffering. I'm sorry you had to go through that, but it was the right thing to do. Don't feel bad, know that you shortened the suffering of the animal and it's inevitable death...you are very strong.....

What you did took some courage and was probably in the possums best interest, if it ever happens again, whatever the animal, it is quicker and more reliable to 'wring' or break it's neck. It is arguably more difficult as it means a 'hands-on' solution but a quick, forceful tug and twist of it's neck will instantly put most small animals out of their misery. I've done it in the past with a bird but I would recommend looking up the technique for small mammals as I imagine their necks are tougher and more resistant than a game bird. I would rather have my neck broken in 2 seconds than be clubbed to death over 10.

Hopefully, for your sake, there won't be a next time. Don't beat yourself up.

reply to post by TheLegend



When i am not toddling around on ATS in RL i am a home consulting specialised veterinary surgeon (over 25 years experience.)

What you did was the correct thing to do owing to the circumstances at the time, as the animal would have died extremely slowly and in much pain. (waste of time calling such centers as they don't really give a damn for wild animals as this does not bring them money and i think that the police departement have probably other things to do 'protecting" the public so to speak!)

However, in case this happens again, turn the spade to the side so that the cutting edge is striking the back of the animals neck leading to quick and painless cervical dislocation.

May i ask why you have a wolf? (is this a wild one or cross breed?)... If it is wild, why do you have it at home as a pet?

Kindest respects

Rodinus

Originally posted by fiftyfifty
What you did took some courage and was probably in the possums best interest, if it ever happens again, whatever the animal, it is quicker and more reliable to 'wring' or break it's neck. It is arguably more difficult as it means a 'hands-on' solution but a quick, forceful tug and twist of it's neck will instantly put most small animals out of their misery. I've done it in the past with a bird but I would recommend looking up the technique for small mammals as I imagine their necks are tougher and more resistant than a game bird. I would rather have my neck broken in 2 seconds than be clubbed to death over 10.

Hopefully, for your sake, there won't be a next time. Don't beat yourself up.

edit on 21-6-2013 by fiftyfifty because: (no reason given)

Please see my last post.

Wringing the neck is not the best ethical way of practicing euthanasia on larger animals, as if you have no experience this may lead to a very painful and stressful end which may be similar to clubbing if you are not sure how to do it. (stressful for both animal and person)

The "spade method" or a hard long thick stick to the back of the neck (quckly with force) is much quicker and less stressful and painful. (For those in the USA with guns), a bullet to the back of the skull of the animal is very quick too, but watch out for richochets depending on the ground where the animal is lying.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

You did the right thing.

Leaving it to die in pain would have made you a monster.

You'll be okay, that sickening feeling will pass.

You did the most humaine thing for the animal. It was an act of mercy to end its sufferings. Yes, the wound did sound like it was mortal. I know it's hard, but you did the right thing. Strangely, its times like this which gives us pause to appriciate life, great and small.

reply to post by TheLegend


It bothers me that you had to call around looking for help and or "permission".
There is only one avenue to take in this situation.
The animal is already dead, all you have done was simply ease the pain.
But, inevitably you did the right thing.

reply to post by TheLegend


If this ever comes up again, then the only thing I would say about it is try and learn how to use the implements you have to hand, in the most efficient way possible. If it was me, I would have gone for the square shovel, and gone for a single, downward blow , vertical to the ground, just below the base of the skull. With full weight behind it, such a blow should sever the spinal cord at least, and for best practice sake, you should aim to actually decapitate the animal. I know its a terrible thing to have to think about, but that really would be the fastest and most humane way to end thier suffering.

Frankly, any method which uses one blow, to instantly kill the animal would do.

What's a Human Society? Sorry but I'm not buying this story.

Nobody and I mean NOBODY gives a damn what happens to a freakin opossum. NOBODY!

Your story reads like someone who thinks they killed a human

On the off chance it is true I'm not going to pat you on the back and say good job! You did the right thing!!

You killed a living being. Also,you interfered with mother nature.

Pet wolf

As a bow hunter I got to see many things.
One of them was somebody's pet wolf who thought it great sport to chase deer.
Problem was it was catching it them, regularly.
In 2 days I found 2 dead deer it had killed and saw another running with a hole in it's hind leg.
It chased a nice trophy buck right under my tree stand.
Then I had to make a choice which to kill.
I'm hoping you don't allow your animal to run free as you have no idea how much damage one can cause.
As for the possum you did the right thing.

Imo apex predators were never meant to be pets.
Wolves are very social animals and humans are not a real substitute for a pack.

Originally posted by nightstalker78
What's a Human Society? Sorry but I'm not buying this story.

Nobody and I mean NOBODY gives a damn what happens to a freakin opossum. NOBODY!

Your story reads like someone who thinks they killed a human

On the off chance it is true I'm not going to pat you on the back and say good job! You did the right thing!!

You killed a living being. Also,you interfered with mother nature.

Pet wolf

edit on 21-6-2013 by nightstalker78 because: (no reason given)

Well nightstalker, apparently YOU did not have the patience or time to read through all of the posts as if you did and took a moment to think, you would notice that SOME people do give a damn.

Why do people like yourself have to go and Troll out threads i wonder?

Maybe it is time for you to go to bed as you have school tomorrow... maybe i am wrong and you just need to vent some pent up anger out on the nearest thread that you felt you could allow yourself to do so? Maybe you are a long time city dweller and have never lived or been to the countryside... who knows... only you!

In any case, i understand and respect your point of view although i totally disagree with it/them and hope you have a great day/evening/afternoon.

Kindest respects

Rodinus

reply to post by Rodinus


Thanks Rodinus. Good to hear proper advice from an expert! That is the kind of small nugget information that I will carry around with me forever. Can I ask what you would recommend for a larger animal? I'm thinking, specifically animals that get hit by a car. I hit a fox a few years ago and it was clearly in a lot of distress but I couldn't do anything to put it out of it's misery. It was out in the middle of the countryside so I doubt the police or RSPCA would have got there in a reasonable time if at all. I got in the car to run it over again but couldn't do it. It died after about 20 minutes at the side of the road.

Originally posted by fiftyfifty
reply to post by Rodinus

 

Thanks Rodinus. Good to hear proper advice from an expert! That is the kind of small nugget information that I will carry around with me forever. Can I ask what you would recommend for a larger animal? I'm thinking, specifically animals that get hit by a car. I hit a fox a few years ago and it was clearly in a lot of distress but I couldn't do anything to put it out of it's misery. It was out in the middle of the countryside so I doubt the police or RSPCA would have got there in a reasonable time if at all. I got in the car to run it over again but couldn't do it. It died after about 20 minutes at the side of the road.

My pleasure if it can help.

Unfortunately not many of us carry a spade around in our car and finding a large heavy thick lump of wood would not be easy in dire circumstances such as hitting a fox and apart from the odd visiting veterinary surgeon most of the general public dont carry bottles of pentobarbital and syringues!

The only thing you could do if stuck out in the middle of the countryside with no other means of putting and extremely injured animal such as a fox or deer out of it's misery would be (and although this might not sound humane), to drive back over the moribund animal if possible the head would be the best place to run over.

yes, i know, it might sound sick, but the animal will be in so much shock from the first impact that it probably will not feel much if you drive over it again quickly.

However, watch out as Foxes are full of different types of parasites and other yucky things that can easily be spread to humans. i have added a link here which will give you an idea :

www.foxolutions.co.uk...

Warmest respects

Rodinus

Always sucks to have to do this....

The Humane Society isn't going to help in regards to what are largely deemed as "nuisance" animals though (squirrels, possums, racoons, pigeons, etc.).

Why on Earth do you have a pet wolf though? Even domesticated dogs can be unpredictable in some surroundings and with certain people. Your liability is just magnified with such an animal. I do hope you muzzle it around new people, for everyone's own safety. We even do that with our large dogs (because you never know if they will take an instant dislike to someone due to a smell, gesture, etc.) until we know how they react to someone.