Category Archives: Euthanasia

Take a walk through pretty much any city in Bulgaria and you will spot at least one homeless animal wandering the streets in search of food. Plovdiv is one city that stands out for its large stray animal population. Dogs and cats flood the streets of this city and while most citizens turn a blind eye to the suffering and hardships of these animals, there is one woman who does not.

Desislava Stoyanova has spent the last 12 years rescuing animals from the streets of Plovdiv, her hometown. Through adoption and fostering, Desislava has given hundreds of animals a second chance at life.

Desislavas love for animals extends far beyond just talk.Desislava shares, My story with animals, started a long time ago. I live in a rough part of the city of Plovdiv, Bulgaria and the cruelty for animals there was daily. I cried a lot, but then realized that I needed to act too! She continues, I remember, I was about 19 years old, at Uni, and had just met my boyfriend (now husband). None of us had lots of money, but we gave them all for dogs and cats food and for visits to the vets. And we did not regret this even for a second! We grew up together, surrounded by the love of the beautiful babies we picked up from the streets, and we couldnt have had it any other way! Now, we have a beautiful baby boy and he will grow up knowing how to cherish all animals and help those in need, animals, and humans!

She takes in animals that many others have deemed unsavable and done her absolute best to ensure that even the most tragic cases get the care they deserve. Oftentimes, she fits the veterinary bills for the animals recovery all on her own because, to her, giving up on a life is simply not an option.

To help care for the hundreds of animals who have entered her life, Desislava set up theSave Me Facebook pagewhere she calls on followers for either donations or help finding a good home for some of her charges. Through her page and the support she has received from it, Desislava has managed to rent a foster home in a nearby village to house some of the cats and dogs that need help.

Currently, 24 dogs and 20 cats are residing there but tragically, this could all change due to a complaint from her neighbors. According to Desislava, the local council has given until the end of April 2017 for her to remove all the animals from the property. If she fails to do so, the animals will be confiscated and likely euthanized.

As dire as this situation is, Desislava has no time to sit around moping. In fact, shes already sprung into action by purchasing an old run down building in a nearby village for the sake of housing the 40 animals in need of a new home. The trouble is, the building is in need of major renovations. Fencing, furniture, and building materials are all needed to make this building suitable for the soon-to-be homeless animals. However, in order to make these modifications to the building, Desislava is desperate need of funds.

However, in order to make these modifications to the building, Desislava is desperate need of funds.So far, she estimates that the total cost of renovation will come out to $8,000, but in this new space, she will be able to provide a safe home for many more animals than she currently has in her care.

In addition to making appeals on the Save Me Facebook page, Desislava has launched a GoFundMe campaign. Together, we can help give a new home to the nearly 50 animals in her care and ensure that many more will also get the winning chance they deserve.

As they say, it takes nothing away from a person to be kind to an animal, and in the case of this amazing woman many, many animals are lucky enough to receive that kindness.

Click here to read more about Desislavas project and make a donation.

All image source: Desislava Stoyanova

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45 Rescued Cats and Dogs Are Facing Euthanasia But One Woman is Fighting to Build Them Shelter - One Green Planet

PIKE COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) - The Pike County Animal Shelter has been able to reduce their euthanasia rates to eight percent.

"It took a lot of burden off the people that have to do the bad thing. And now we don't have to hardly do it anymore," Jason Burke, animal control officer, said.

The Appalachian Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) and the Pike County Fiscal Court are covering each animal's expenses.

"That means that you'll get an animal that's spayed and neutered, vaccine, I mean, de-wormed, and everything," Burke said.

92 percent of animals that come to the shelter are released to adoption and rescues.

James and Whitney Whaley adopted their puppy, Dobby, on Valentine's Day.

"When you adopt from a shelter, it's kind of good you already have a dog that's established and you get to take them out of a bad situation and put them in a better situation," Whitney Whaley, owner of an adopted dog, said.

For the Whaley's, adopting their dog was one of the best decisions they made.

"It's now the three of us, while he's still definitely a dog, I mean, he's still kind of a part of the family," Whitney Whaley said.

Officials at the shelter, shared about 10 to 12 animals are adopted each and every day.

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Pike County animal shelter reduces euthanasia rates - WYMT News (press release)

Quebec is about to embark upon a debate on the involuntary euthanasia of demented elderly after a 55-year-old man in Montreal allegedly smothered his Alzheimers stricken wife and posted what he had done on Facebook. Michel Cadotte was charged with second-degree murder after his 60-year-old wife died in an assisted care facility.

He said on Facebook that he had "cracked" and "consented to her demands to help her die." Although the facts are not clear yet, the media has reported that the woman requested medical aid in dying but was refused.

Under Quebecs 2015 law, euthanasia for the demented is specifically excluded. A person who makes a request for medical assistance in dying must be capable of consent, Jean-Pierre Mnard, a Montreal medical lawyer, told the Montreal Gazette. This means the patient must understand their state of health and can express their will. A patient with advanced Alzheimers no longer has the capacity to consent, no longer has the cognitive capacity to understand.

The Gazette reports that Quebec parliamentarians now want to open a public debate on legalizing euthanasia for persons unable to give informed consent. This debate about extending eligibility for euthanasia is happening just a bit more than a year after the law came into effect.

The Quebec Alzheimers Society contends that demented patients need to be protected. "It's very difficult with the complexity of dementia to know for sure what a person with dementia would want today," April Hayward, of the Society told CTV News. "They may have expressed a wish ten years ago and do we know for certain that's what they would want today?"

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Should Quebec's Alzheimer's patients be eligible for euthanasia? - BioEdge

Early in December 2016, the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Board of Trustees passed an historic Position Statement that originated in the Assembly and was unanimously supported by the APA Ethics Committee:

The APA, in concert with the American Medical Associations position on Medical Euthanasia, holds that a psychiatrist should not prescribe or administer any intervention to a non-terminally ill person for the purpose of causing death.

This position is now one of the strongest of any medical organization in the world regarding the practice of physician-assisted suicide by prescription medication or euthanasia by lethal injection (PAS/E) for those with non- terminal conditions. This is not just a theoretical possibility that might occur along a slippery slope following legalization of PAS/E for terminal illnesses. People with non-terminal illnesses have been legally euthanized at their own request in several countries for nearly 15 years. This has included certain eligible patients who have only psychiatric disorders.

In 2002, Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg removed any distinctions between terminal and non-terminal conditions, and between physical suffering and mental suffering, for legally permitted PAS/E. That was when patients with psychiatric disorders became eligible for this right in these countries. Independent consultants have to declare their condition untreatable, and the patient needs to declare it to be insufferable.

In the Netherlands, for example, for psychiatric-only cases, at least 1 consultant is required, but 3 are suggested. At least one should be a psychiatrist but does not have to be.

However, the patient can weigh in regarding the untreatable criterion as well. It is not based solely on what physicians have to offer, but on what the patient wishes to accept. For example, though potentially effective treatments may be offered, such as ECT, MAOIs, residential treatment, transcranial magnetic stimulation, and vagus nerve stimulation, competent patients may refuse these offers. That choice could make their case untreatable. So patients can rule on both the untreatable and insufferable axes; physicians can only opine on the former.

In the Netherlands, lethal injections are the most commonly used method to fulfill an approved patients death wish. This is often administered by the patients treating psychiatrist at home, in the office, or in specialized Levenseinde Klinieks (End of Life Clinics). Between 2008 and 2014, more than 200 psychiatric patients were euthanized by their own request in the Netherlands (1% of all euthanasia in that country): 52% had a diagnosis of personality disorder, 56% refused one or more offered treatments, and 20% had never even had an inpatient stay (one indication of previous treatment intensity). When asked the primary reason for seeking PAS/E, 66% cited social isolation and loneliness. Despite the legal requirement for agreement between outside consultants, for 24% of psychiatric patients euthanized, at least one outside consultant disagreed.

Some remarkable stories have been profiled in the Dutch media. For example, a woman was granted euthanasia for chronic PTSD due to childhood sexual abuse. The arguments based on personal autonomy to justify such access to PAS/E are being pushed even further in the Netherlands. Ministers of Health and Justice have proposed to their Parliament that criteria not be limited to medical conditions, but be extended to average citizens who feel they have lived completed lives.

Excerpt from:

APA Position on Medical Euthanasia - Psychiatric Times

Click on Once Euthanasia Voluntary, Itll Become Irresistible, Ask the Dutch link to read more.

Blogs | Feb. 24, 2017

Once Euthanasia Voluntary, Itll Become Irresistible, Ask the Dutch; Real Humility; and More!

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Once Euthanasia Voluntary, It'll Become Irresistible, Ask the Dutch; Real Humility; and More! - National Catholic Register (blog)

Last updated12:05, February 24 2017

TOM HUNT/Stuff.co.nz

Supporters of Susan Austen, facing charges related to importing a euthanasia drug, gather in support outside Wellington District Court.

Supporters ofExit Wellington co-ordinator Susan Dale Austen, 65, filled a Wellington District Courtroom when she appeared on Friday morning.

Austen faces one charge of importing the narcotic sedative pentobarbitone known as Nembutal between March 2012 and October 2016, and one of importing on September 30.

Austen was remanded on bail for a month after police asked for a postponement till March 24.

ROSS GIBLIN/FAIRFAX NZ

Placards were waved in support.

Judge Stephen Harrop endorsed the comments made by Austen's lawyer, Donald Steven, QC, that publishing photographs of Austen could breach her fair trial rights.

READ MORE: * Many questions, few answers *Charges laid over importing euthanasia drug *Police admit using checkpoint to target euthanasia meeting attendees *We know where you've been, police tell 76-year-old who attended euthanasia meeting *Police door-knock elderly women who attended euthanasia meeting

Nembutal is a drug commonly used for Euthanasia, and Exit Wellington is a pro-euthanasia group.

ROSS GIBLIN/FAIRFAX NZ

Supporters of Susan Austen outside Wellington District Court on Friday.

The euthanasia debate has been in the headlines after police admitted that they used a checkpoint operation to identify people who had been to an Exit Wellingtonmeeting in early October.

The matter has beenreferred to the Independent Police Conduct Authority.

About 40 supporters of Austen's, some with placards, gathered outside court to support her as she arrived on Friday with her husband and lawyer.

"A peaceful death is everyone's right, which is really all it is about," supporter Jan Rosie said outside court.

Voluntary Euthanasia Society - which is fighting to change New Zealand euthanasia laws - spokesman David Barber said two-thirds of New Zealand supported"end of life choice" but politicians were unwilling to touch it.

While most of the supporters outside court were middle-aged-or-older women, there were a few men and younger peopleamong the supporters.

"Young people will be facing the issue at some time," Barber said.

Austen arrived at court with family and lawyers appearing relaxed.

She emerged afterwards and thankedand joked with the supporters but her lawyers said she would not comment publicly.

-Stuff

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Susan Dale Austen appears in court facing charges relating to ... - Stuff.co.nz

Our neighbor to the north demonstrates vividly how the logic of euthanasia consciousness spreads like a virus.

Once a society generally accepts killing as an acceptable response to human suffering, the killable categories expand exponentiallyclearly seen in the Netherlands and Belgium where psychiatrists kill the mentally ill, sometimes coupled with organ harvesting.

Abuses? What abuses?

Canada is driving that same road with the pedal to the metal. Quebec is now actively considering expanding euthanasia to include the mentally incompetent if they asked to be killed in an advance directive. From the Montreal Gazette story:

A consensus is emerging among Quebec parliamentarians to launch a public debate on the appropriateness of legalizing medically assisted suicide for persons unable to give informed consent, such as patients suffering from Alzheimers disease.

My mother died of Alzheimers, so I know what this disease is like.

I also know that it would have been wrong to allow herworst fears about what her life was going to belike when the illness beganto bite, to allow her to order herself poisoned to death when she lost capacity.

Even in my mothers very difficult final days, there were good moments in which she was able to receive and give love.

To say she would have been killable because she was so ill would have been to say that her loss of capacities rendered less than human. Not on my watch.

And that brings up an ironic point: At the same time in whichconcerted efforts are being undertaken to reduce the categories of animals killed by euthanasiaa worthy causesimilar efforts are underway where euthanasia is widely accepted to expand the number of people so killed.

That path leads to extreme moral peril.

The same progression we have seen in Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, and now Canada, will happen here if assisted suicide ever becomes widely accepted. Its only logical.

And heres the worst part: When that happens, people wont care because societys adherence to the equality/sanctity of human lifewill have been fundamentally subverted.

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Quebec Moves Toward Euthanasia for Alzheimer's - National Review

Lessons from indigenous wisdom in the euthanasia debate MercatorNet George's words came to mind as wise advice for those of us engaging in the legalization of euthanasia debate currently raging in Australia. They struck me as especially apropos in light of the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island and First ...

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Lessons from indigenous wisdom in the euthanasia debate - MercatorNet

Posted February 24, 2017 09:56:22

Colin Barnett and Mark McGowan have clashed over voluntary euthanasia and the Safe Schools program during a public question and answer session organised by the Australian Christian Lobby in the lead-up to the state election.

More than 500 people attended the event in Wangara on Thursday night to hear the WA Premier and Opposition Leader's stance on issues ranging from Aboriginal youth suicide and prostitution reform to babies surviving abortions.

Unlike Wednesday night's televised leaders' debate that focused on debt, deficit and unemployment, neither leader took aim at the other's credibility instead focusing on the social issues facing WA and drawing from personal experiences and anecdotes to help sell their case.

Two of the questions that raised a vocal reaction from the crowd were centred on euthanasia and the Safe Schools program.

Mr Barnett said while he had sympathy for people who had "painful and long deaths", he did not support euthanasia.

"I think it is an issue that is left to the family at the time and to the doctors," he told the crowd.

"I think palliative care and relying on professional moral ethics and religious standards and ethics is the way to go."

He was at odds with his opponent Mr McGowan, who used his personal experience of the death of a relative to explain why he backed assisted dying.

"He should have been able to make his own decision in those circumstances on the time of his passing," he said.

"Voluntary euthanasia, with appropriate safeguards, is something I personally support.

"My party has a position whereby it's a conscience vote, so every member of my caucus gets to vote according to their own point of view if a bill came before the Parliament."

Mr Barnett and Mr McGowan were also left at odds after being questioned about Safe Schools, a federally funded anti-bullying program designed to help educate students about sexual and gender diversity.

"Will your party commit to removing this highly controversial and sexualised program from all Western Australian schools?" a church leader asked.

Mr McGowan backed Safe Schools.

"A lot of young people who identify as gay are very likely to commit suicide. There are also problems with young people identifying as gay with being bullied at school," he said.

"My understanding of the program is that it provides advice to teachers and assistance to teachers in dealing with children or young people who might identify as gay.

"A public high school in Western Australia that wants to access that program on the advice of their school board and school community, I think is reasonable, and they should be able to access that program."

However, Mr Barnett disagreed.

"From my knowledge of it and I've never read the material but I've heard fellow members of Parliament describing it to me it encourages experimentation, promiscuity, to very young children," Mr Barnett said.

"I don't think that is any way what should happen in our school, and I don't think you should have situations where boys' could think ... they've got the right to use the girls' toilets.

"My view, and it's not a directive, but my view to schools [is] I do not want to see that program in our schools."

Mr Barnett said he believed fewer than 30 WA schools had incorporated the program into the curriculum.

Topics: elections, religion-and-beliefs, government-and-politics, schools, euthanasia, wa

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WA election: Euthanasia, Safe Schools hot topics as Liberal, Labor leaders face Christian voters - ABC Online

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Adoption center works to reduce euthanasia - The Dominion Post