Animal euthanasia – empathic care or empathic distress?

Hutton, Vicki

doi:10.1136/vr.l5718

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Stress ratings are highest when there is conflict between the welfare of the animal and the interests of the client [37]. The vet's role has now moved beyond the short-term medical care of the animal to include long-term management of the emotional well-being of the attached human carer [38], who may prolong the animal's suffering by refusing to consider euthanasia as they come to terms with guilt and anticipatory grief. This delay as the vet waits for the client to psychologically accept the pending loss of the animal puts the vet into a pivotal, if not conflicted, position [39], and leads to moral stress in veterinary practice with calls for improved decision-making tools [40].…”

Section: The Outcome Of Assessing Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Too Cute to Kill? The Need for Objective Measurements of Quality of Life

Wolfensohn

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The recognition of animal suffering is influenced by cultural and societal prejudices and the cuteness of an animal leads to bias in the way it is treated. It is important to consider the animal’s behaviour and its environment—not just its physical condition—when assessing its quality of life. The Animal Welfare Assessment Grid (AWAG) is a useful tool for this purpose. The AWAG offers an evidence-based tool for continual welfare assessment, using technology where appropriate, such as digital activity recording, to facilitate decision-making and lead to improvements in the animals’ quality of life. It is highly adaptable to any species by assessing the four parameters of physical health, psychological wellbeing, environmental quality, and clinical and management procedural events. The outcome of assessing welfare should be action to improve it. Societal ethics and policy-making lead to legislation balancing the values we hold for different species. Influencing policy development in such matters as animal welfare, ecological conservation, and risks to humans requires a focus on public attitudes to, and understanding of, science, as well as consideration of potential unforeseen consequences of the social/environmental/economic impacts of policies.

show abstract

Section: The Outcome Of Assessing Welfarementioning

confidence: 99%

Too Cute to Kill? The Need for Objective Measurements of Quality of Life

Wolfensohn

2020

Animals

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…EUTHANASIA is widely regarded as the most emotionally laden procedure veterinarians perform. 1 Pet owners request euthanasia for their animals for various reasons, with the most common reason for requesting euthanasia being that the animal suffers from a physical or mental condition that significantly reduces its quality of life. 2 Other reasons owners give for requesting euthanasia include behavioural issues (eg, aggression, environmental damage), economic issues (eg, owners' inability to afford treatment) or owners' inability to cope with the burden of caring for an animal with a chronic illness.…”

Section: Importance Of Documenting Euthanasia Decision-making Process...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Importance of documenting euthanasia decision‐making processes in patients' medical records

Cooney¹

2022

Veterinary Record

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

“…Empathy is thought to facilitate practitioners' bond with humans and animals (McArthur & Fitzgerald, 2013). Yet, under some circumstances, empathy can also increase practitioner distress when poor outcomes are experienced by either the animal or client (Hutton, 2019). There is broad agreement that empathy is a multifaceted phenomenon with distinct dimensions that, in this context, may give rise to different outcomes for the practitioner.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The role of empathy in veterinary work has rarely been investigated (Colombo et al, 2017; Schoenfeld‐Tacher et al, 2017; Varela & Correia, 2023). While it is assumed that conducting animal euthanasia is an emotionally charged task that can evoke an empathetic reaction (Hutton, 2019), the distinctions between, and effects of, cognitive and emotional empathy in veterinarians has rarely been examined. To our knowledge, only one study of veterinarians and veterinary nurses explored the association between empathy and burnout (Varela & Correia, 2023), and reported that emotional empathy was a significant risk factor for exhaustion.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The moderating role of different forms of empathy on the association between performing animal euthanasia and career sustainability

Crane

Kho

Thomas

et al. 2023

J Applied Social Pyschol

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Veterinarian work may take an emotional toll on practitioners and their mental health, potentially driving premature exit from the profession. Performing animal euthanasia is frequently identified as a potential risk factor for sustainable mental health. Yet, research has demonstrated mixed results between euthanasia performance and detrimental mental health outcomes, suggesting the potential for factors that moderate this association. In this three‐wave longitudinal survey study, including 110 currently practicing veterinarians (88% female), we examined whether the type of empathy experienced by these practitioners plays a role in the association between performing animal euthanasia and career sustainability. Two types of empathy, cognitive empathy (i.e., understanding the affective experience of another) and emotional empathy (i.e., experiencing another's emotional state) were assessed. Job disengagement at 12 months was predicted by the interaction between animal euthanasia frequency in the past 12 months and emotional empathy in the past 6 or 12 months. Perceived resilience at 12 months was predicted by the interaction between animal euthanasia frequency in the past 12 months and emotional empathy a year prior. For these outcomes, the effects of performing animal euthanasia on career sustainability were moderated by emotional empathy. Higher levels of emotional empathy were associated with worse outcomes. Veterinarians may seek to understand the affective experience of the client or patient and provide compassionate care in a sustainable way. However, they should do so while avoiding the costs of emotional empathy. This work has implications for veterinarian training to support career sustainability.

show abstract

Animal euthanasia – empathic care or empathic distress?

Cited by 6 publications

References 18 publications

Too Cute to Kill? The Need for Objective Measurements of Quality of Life

Too Cute to Kill? The Need for Objective Measurements of Quality of Life

Importance of documenting euthanasia decision‐making processes in patients' medical records

The moderating role of different forms of empathy on the association between performing animal euthanasia and career sustainability

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About