Are the New Vet Ethics Kind to Animals?

How ironic and sad that the animal rights recognition, so late in coming, is bringing with it the evil side effect expounded in your article “Vet Ethics” (by Allan Parachini, April 26).

I have always felt that the one thing in which animals were more fortunate than humans was that they could be painlessly put to sleep when they suffered from disease, age or lack of a good home. Now I see that this good luck could come to an end. According to your article, the possibility looms that in the future animals could be forced to undergo expensive and painful treatments just to exist a bit longer, the same as humans.

People who have the kindness, intelligence and courage to do so will no longer be allowed to put their pets to sleep painlessly, but will instead have to torment them with all manner of therapies, or if they can no longer care for them, pass them out to strangers, or the animal shelters, who definitely do not screen homes, but give them to anyone who will take them. They can wind up in research laboratories.

My worst nightmare would be not to live long enough to put all my pets, young, old and healthy, to sleep before I die, thus making them forever safe.

Those vets ought to rethink their rethinking!

THEA COLLINS

Studio City