Animals can have no euthanasia shelters. Why not humans?

Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition

Shropshire ca retirement village.

I read an article about the Shropshire cat retirement village that provide a euthanasia free place for elderly cats to live.

The article affected me by the commitment to provide care for elderly cats, without killing them.

I do not consider cats to be equal to humans, but I am concerned that the legalization of euthanasia in Canada has affected our care of  humans that are elderly and nearing death.

There are excellent services and institutions that provide care for people, as they become older or approach the end of life, but these institutions and services have been affected by government rules requiring hospice and palliative care institutions to provide euthanasia. There is also pressure on care homes to allow euthanasia.

There are euthanasia free animal shelters and services. Why can't there be euthanasia free hospice and palliative care services?

For instance, in British Columbia, the Delta Hospice Society was defunded and their 10 bed hospice building was expropriated by the British Columbia government because they refused to kill their patients. The Delta Hospice Society is not the only palliative care / hospice organization that was pressured to kill their patients.

One reasons that I strongly support Alberta Bill 18, the bill provides limits to euthanasia in Alberta, is that Bill 18 will give medical institutions the right to operate a no kill facility.

If cats can have euthanasia free care facilities, then humans should have the same.