Story · Ajahn Brahm
She asked the dog if it wanted to die
Content note: health claim; animal suffering; euthanasia
The story — as told by Ajahn Brahm (verbatim captions)
There's one of our members here years ago. She had this beautiful dog and the dog had cancer and the dog got such excellent care, expensive, but this uh girl didn't mind sort of spending money on her dog. And of course, he went took her to the do the vet and the vet said, [gasps] "Can't do anything more. Your dog's in pain. Can I sort of uh euthanize it? I mean, kill it. Yeah. And the woman, she'd been here so many times, she's actually one of our committee members years ago. And so he said, "Uh, can I please just have a few minutes with my dog?" And then after spending a few minutes with the dog, she went back to the vet and said, "No, I won't allow you to euthanize a dog." And the vet was shouted at her and scolded her. You Buddhists are just so selfish about your own religious views, not caring about the dog. But she stood her ground and said, "I'm taking it home." Now, what had happened? She'd heard what we taught here so many times that she took that dog in her arms in a quiet space, looked her dog in the eyes, [snorts] and asked the dog, "Do you want to die? Have you had enough? It's not my decision. It's yours. And whatever you tell me, I'll tell the vet. It's wrong to kill another being, but it's okay to ask them what they want to do and tell that to the vet. And she said, "I got the message back from the dog. It's your dog, your cat. You've you've been with them. You love them. If you ask the question, you'd feel what the answer is. It's very clear. No, I don't want to die. And she took the scolding from the vet. But 6 months later, she took the dog back to the vet, was in full remission, all by itself, and the vet said, "Oh, you Buddhists are so wise and kind."
▶ Watch Ajahn Brahm tell it from 1:27:46 (to 1:30:02)
A reflection (in the spirit of Ajahn Brahm's talk)
Told her dog with cancer should be put down, a woman asked the dog and sensed it didn't want to die. The vet scolded her; six months later, the dog was in remission. One story, not veterinary advice. But love listens rather than controls. When decisions come, ask with your heart as well as your head.
In brief (our summary)
A committee member's dog has cancer; the vet wants to euthanize. She asks for a few minutes, looks the dog in the eyes and asks if it wants to die — sensing no — and refuses. The vet scolds her as a selfish Buddhist. Six months later the dog is in remission and the vet praises Buddhists instead.
Teaching point
Love asks rather than controls; even with animals, kindness includes listening.
When this story may help
- pet illness
- end-of-life decisions
Themes
- animals
- death
- compassion
- euthanasia
Source & credit
Told by Ajahn Brahm in It's OK to Cry | Ajahn Brahm | 5 November 2021 · 2021-11-05 · ▶ watch from 1:27:46 to 1:30:02 · Buddhist Society of Western Australia
2 other tellings of this story
- Seeing the goodness in the world | Ajahn Brahm | 28-11-2014 · 2014-11-30 · ▶ watch from 39:52 to 40:39 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaNov 2014 telling: owner asks the dog if it has had enough; feels no; takes the dog home.
- Buddhism and Dogs | Ajahn Brahm | 23 February 2018 · 2018-02-23 · ▶ watch from 26:55 to 29:21 · Buddhist Society of Western AustraliaFeb 2018 telling: Judy asks dying dog if ready; takes it home — full recovery; vet astonished.
Caption notes: YouTube auto-captions with machine-added punctuation; words left exactly as captioned.
The narrative is Ajahn Brahm's own telling, quoted from the talk captions. The summary and reflection are Being Mindful Stories's editorial notes. Please credit the teacher and link the original talk. Markdown version