Woman Defends 'Hardest Decision' to Euthanize Dog Over Behavior
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
After a year of constant training and exhausting all options for giving a reactive dog the best quality of life, one woman came to the "hardest decision" to perform behavioral euthanasia.
Addie and family rescued a dog named Spirit from a shelter and welcomed him home when he was only 6 months old. It took time getting him out of his shell. She told Newsweek via TikTok that he was "very timid and scared," but they worked hard on trying to get him comfortable outside the shelter environment.
However, the older he became, the worse his reactivity got to both dogs and unfamiliar humans. This eventually turned into aggression.
"Many times these incidents led to us getting bitten when we tried to intervene," she said. "We had a reactive dog in the past, so we did know how to deal with this situation."
The family took Spirit to several different trainers; however, each did not have a positive outcome. Then the dog's behavior became unpredictable. Aggression took over at random times, but when it was over, he also looked confused and shaken.
"After over a year of continuous work and trying everything we possibly could, he went after my Shepherd mix, River, one day," Addie said. "He had him full grip in his mouth around the throat, and if I hadn't intervened in time, River wouldn't be here."
That, along with his quality of life, led Addie to decide it was time for behavioral euthanasia. They felt as if they'd exhausted all options and that his suffering became too great for him to be forced to live.
Screenshots from a June 28 TikTok video of an owner explaining her decision to follow through on behavioral euthanasia for her adopted shelter dog.
Screenshots from a June 28 TikTok video of an owner explaining her decision to follow through on behavioral euthanasia for her adopted shelter dog.
@river.the.shepherd/TikTok
"... we couldn't risk rehoming him because of the risk he could get out and seriously injure a child, person, or animal," she said.
The American Kennel Club defines behavioral euthanasia as the humane way to end a dog's life due to severe behavioral issues linked with aggression that could cause harm to people or other animals. These dogs are "unsafe," with the key issue being their untrustworthiness due to aggression triggers, which can either be clear or unpredictable.
Viewer Reactions
The TikTok video, which reached over 1 million views as of Wednesday, left viewers split on the decision to follow through on behavioral euthanasia, with many unaware this was a common crossroads pet parents experience.
"Please don't ever feel bad/failed him. They were fighting demons in their heads and you freed them," one defended.
Another added: "For everyone in this situation, you did the right thing. Life is too much for some dogs, they don't understand and are scared. You gave him the best life you could, you gave him a peaceful closure to this cruel world."
However, others didn't see it that way. Someone wrote: "There should NEVER EVER be any dog euthanized because of behavior, are children euthanized because of behavior."
A fourth user commented: "Don't agree with this at all. Any dog's behaviour can be fixed with the correct training..."
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