Assisted Suicide

[driveace]

Expected today a decision on if people who help other persons who have a terminal illness ,and wish to die ,will be prosecuted for Assisting them in their efforts to die,.What do you feel about this,my own view is that nobody should be assisted to end their life,and it should still be illegal and I dont want to see us go down that slippery slope.

[BeansBeansBeans]

My personal view is that people should have the choice to die, should they wish, after proper consultation to ensure that they are of sound mind.

[Valve Bounce]

My personal view is that people should have the choice to die, should they wish, after proper consultation to ensure that they are of sound mind.

I have decided that, if I reached a certain state of suffering as a result of ill health, that I would end it one way or another. That someone would be kind enough to help me, if I were incapacitated and could not do it myself, would be what I would want.

[Dave B]

This is such an emotive subject. I watched the Dimbleby lecture in tears a couple of weeks back as Tony (Baldrick) Robinson read the moving words of Terry Pratchett talking about how he knew that Alzheimers would eventually make his life intolerable and how when it gets too much he'd like to peacefully bow out on his own terms.

It struck a chord: when my own grandfather became riddled with cancer of the bowel I had to watch the man who I loved and respected above everybody else turn into a hollow grey shell unable to speak or perform the most basic bodily functions. It was all he could do to whimper and moan in agony every time he so much as coughed or swallowed.

Towards the end he was on pretty strong doses of morphine to control his pain. Eventually - and I've got to be careful what I say here - the nurses asked us if we agreed the best course might be to give him some extremely large doses. Nobody said anything, nobody needed to, we all understood what was meant. He passed in relative peace a short time later.

As the letter of the law stands, every one of us in that room could have been arrested and charged - for ensuring that a man enjoyed a tiny bit of dignity in his final moments on this earth. How stupid, how messed up is that?

There needs to be a clear and unambiguous process which formalises the circumstances where this is legal. Firstly of course it must be in accordance with the wishes of the patient themselves, made at a time when they're capable of thinking rationally. Secondly it must be agreed by qualified professionals that the patient stands no chance of recovery and is enduring a poor quality of life. Finally the next of kin must agree.

I disagree that you'd start a "slippery slope", bumping auntie off to get her inheritance. The safeguards and checks in place would prevent this. My grandad only left a modest amount but I tell you now: I'd have traded the lot in a heartbeat to buy the old boy some peace and dignity.

Put it this way, if you had a family pet which was suffering like that you'd take it to the vet and euthanise it. Why should humans be the exception? Why should we be forced to suffer, sometimes in agony, and to put our loved ones through that? It makes absolutely no sense, and I'm glad that the debate is advancing.

[BeansBeansBeans]

Tremendous post that Dave :up:

[Valve Bounce]

Tremendous post that Dave :up:

Yeah!! it shook me; I had three close relatives die from Cancer and they suffered horribly. I'd agree totally with Dave's sentiments.

[Daniel]

Tremendous post that Dave :up:
:up: Ditto. I also agree with BBB's post.

[555-04Q2]

I'm all for it :up:

[F1boat]

My personal view is that people should have the choice to die, should they wish, after proper consultation to ensure that they are of sound mind.

I agree.

[Hondo]

I can't see where any society that allows abortion should have a problem with assisted suicide.

[race aficionado]

This is such an emotive subject. I watched the Dimbleby lecture in tears a couple of weeks back as Tony (Baldrick) Robinson read the moving words of Terry Pratchett talking about how he knew that Alzheimers would eventually make his life intolerable and how when it gets too much he'd like to peacefully bow out on his own terms.

It struck a chord: when my own grandfather became riddled with cancer of the bowel I had to watch the man who I loved and respected above everybody else turn into a hollow grey shell unable to speak or perform the most basic bodily functions. It was all he could do to whimper and moan in agony every time he so much as coughed or swallowed.

Towards the end he was on pretty strong doses of morphine to control his pain. Eventually - and I've got to be careful what I say here - the nurses asked us if we agreed the best course might be to give him some extremely large doses. Nobody said anything, nobody needed to, we all understood what was meant. He passed in relative peace a short time later.

As the letter of the law stands, every one of us in that room could have been arrested and charged - for ensuring that a man enjoyed a tiny bit of dignity in his final moments on this earth. How stupid, how messed up is that?

There needs to be a clear and unambiguous process which formalises the circumstances where this is legal. Firstly of course it must be in accordance with the wishes of the patient themselves, made at a time when they're capable of thinking rationally. Secondly it must be agreed by qualified professionals that the patient stands no chance of recovery and is enduring a poor quality of life. Finally the next of kin must agree.

I disagree that you'd start a "slippery slope", bumping auntie off to get her inheritance. The safeguards and checks in place would prevent this. My grandad only left a modest amount but I tell you now: I'd have traded the lot in a heartbeat to buy the old boy some peace and dignity.

Put it this way, if you had a family pet which was suffering like that you'd take it to the vet and euthanise it. Why should humans be the exception? Why should we be forced to suffer, sometimes in agony, and to put our loved ones through that? It makes absolutely no sense, and I'm glad that the debate is advancing.

Thanks Dave.
As I write this, my brother and sisters and I are on the same path.
Our mom will hopefully soon end this miserable, torturous and intolerable situation.
Alzheimer's is devastating and many more cases are occurring around the world. Our society has to learn how to deal with this haunting illness because it is torture - to understand this, you have to live it and to use the expression again: it is devastating

May they rest in peace.

race

[Langdale Forest]

I can't see where any society that allows abortion should have a problem with assisted suicide.


Very good point.

Really, if you are suffering from an incurable diesese and are suffering lots of pain, you should have the right to die.

[BDunnell]

I don't know what to think about this — I can see both sides of the argument. However, I instinctively feel that the right to choose is a good idea.

[driveace]

I have seen both my mother die from Cancer at home,in horrendous pain saying "Please god take me away from this pain" and her brother ,my uncle from Prostate Cancer in a hospice.Both died with morphine injections to ease the pain,and that is what eventually killed them ,the Morphine poisoning.
IF they wish to end their life as there is NO cure,and no one wanting rid of them for financial gain,then I dont have a big problem.BUT what I do not want to see is Doctors being allowed to practice euthenasia,or acting as gods!!!!

[Garry Walker]

It struck a chord: when my own grandfather became riddled with cancer of the bowel I had to watch the man who I loved and respected above everybody else turn into a hollow grey shell unable to speak or perform the most basic bodily functions. It was all he could do to whimper and moan in agony every time he so much as coughed or swallowed.

Towards the end he was on pretty strong doses of morphine to control his pain. Eventually - and I've got to be careful what I say here - the nurses asked us if we agreed the best course might be to give him some extremely large doses. Nobody said anything, nobody needed to, we all understood what was meant. He passed in relative peace a short time later.

As the letter of the law stands, every one of us in that room could have been arrested and charged - for ensuring that a man enjoyed a tiny bit of dignity in his final moments on this earth. How stupid, how messed up is that?

There needs to be a clear and unambiguous process which formalises the circumstances where this is legal. Firstly of course it must be in accordance with the wishes of the patient themselves, made at a time when they're capable of thinking rationally. Secondly it must be agreed by qualified professionals that the patient stands no chance of recovery and is enduring a poor quality of life. Finally the next of kin must agree.

I disagree that you'd start a "slippery slope", bumping auntie off to get her inheritance. The safeguards and checks in place would prevent this. My grandad only left a modest amount but I tell you now: I'd have traded the lot in a heartbeat to buy the old boy some peace and dignity.

Put it this way, if you had a family pet which was suffering like that you'd take it to the vet and euthanise it. Why should humans be the exception? Why should we be forced to suffer, sometimes in agony, and to put our loved ones through that? It makes absolutely no sense, and I'm glad that the debate is advancing.
A very well written post, I agree with your views and have shared similar experiences.

[Rollo]

Does an individual's "right to die" via "assisted suicide" infer a moral responsibility on other people to kill?

[Valve Bounce]

Does an individual's "right to die" via "assisted suicide" infer a moral responsibility on other people to kill?

Instead of "kill", I would rather regard this as a humane effort to help them escape from their pain. But there should be no moral or any other responsibility for anyone to be involved; it is either an act of love and kindness or not at all. You sure as heck don't pull out a Magnum and start shooting, Rollo; that's not what we are talking about.

[anthonyvop]

Assisted suicide is an oxymoron.

Suicide is the taking of one's own life.

If somebody "assists" a person to die it is called murder.

[Rollo]

You sure as heck don't pull out a Magnum and start shooting, Rollo; that's not what we are talking about.

Why are you talking about a gun for? This is surely irrelevant?

[Valve Bounce]

Assisted suicide is an oxymoron.

Suicide is the taking of one's own life.

If somebody "assists" a person to die it is called murder.

Have you ever seen someone dying of cancer who is suffering excruciating pain?

[gloomyDAY]

Assisted suicide is an oxymoron.

Suicide is the taking of one's own life.

If somebody "assists" a person to die it is called murder.
No, it's not an oxymoron. The person dying is making the conscience decision to die but doesn't necessarily have the ability to do it in a calm and dignified manner.

Anthony, you only offered a different definition to "assisted suicide", but didn't state your position. Try arguing the points instead of antagonizing everyone else.

[anthonyvop]

Have you ever seen someone dying of cancer who is suffering excruciating pain?

Yes.

Have you?

[anthonyvop]

No, it's not an oxymoron. The person dying is making the conscience decision to die but doesn't necessarily have the ability to do it in a calm and dignified manner.

Anthony, you only offered a different definition to "assisted suicide", but didn't state your position. Try arguing the points instead of antagonizing everyone else.

I have very strong feelings towards so-called "assisted Suicide and suicide in general.

I have witness family members and friends pass away with painful diseases. I have also had a friend take his own life in an act of suicide. I have dwelled on this issue for more time than I care to admit.

My personal belief is that suicide by a relatively mentally healthy person, is a cowardly and selfish act and that "assisted" suicide is murder.

[gloomyDAY]

I have very strong feelings towards so-called "assisted Suicide and suicide in general.

I have witness family members and friends pass away with painful diseases. I have also had a friend take his own life in an act of suicide. I have dwelled on this issue for more time than I care to admit.

My personal belief is that suicide by a relatively mentally healthy person, is a cowardly and selfish act and that "assisted" suicide is murder.Connect the dots for me Tony.

You have seen people on their death beds, but do not feel obliged to end their pain? How would you consider that to be murder?

[Langdale Forest]

Assisted suicide is an oxymoron.

Suicide is the taking of one's own life.

If somebody "assists" a person to die it is called murder.

But it is a different type of murder than going on a shooting rampage and the punishment should be less severe. :)

[anthonyvop]

Connect the dots for me Tony.

You have seen people on their death beds, but do not feel obliged to end their pain? How would you consider that to be murder?

I am an optimist.

Besides the fact the taking of another person's life for the purpose of feeling good about oneself is wrong....How would you feel if you assisted in the death of a diseased loved one and the next day was told they had found a cure for their ailment?

As for obligation. I am in no way obligated to assist anyone to do something i believe is wrong.

[anthonyvop]

But it is a different type of murder than going on a shooting rampage and the punishment should be less severe. :)


you could argue that those on a shooting rampage is mentally unstable and thus not as guilty for their actions as opposed to someone who kills a person out of personal self-gratification.

Actually a person who kills out of self-gratification is usually labeled a sociopath.

[Langdale Forest]

How would you feel if you assisted in the death of a diseased loved one and the next day was told they had found a cure for their ailment?



But what if they were still past the point of cure, how would you feel then, and how would the terminally ill think?

[Langdale Forest]

you could argue that those on a shooting rampage is mentally unstable and thus not as guilty for their actions as opposed to someone who kills a person out of personal self-gratification.

.

After reading you post, I can say 55% bad for the 'insane shooter-outers', and 45% bad for the 'assisted suiciders', although I do say that they are not even that bad. :)

[anthonyvop]

But what if they were still past the point of cure, how would you feel then, and how would the terminally ill think?

I told you how I feel. And the terminally ill knew how I felt. My family knows how a feel as well.

[Langdale Forest]

Anyway, if I lost the ability to do simple tasks (like using a computer), and was in extreme pain from an incurable and slow illness, after a while I would consider assisted suicide, as a few other might do as well.

[anthonyvop]

Anyway, if I lost the ability to do simple tasks (like using a computer), and was in extreme pain from an incurable and slow illness, after a while I would consider assisted suicide, as a few other might do as well.


it is your right to consider it. Just don't ask me or ask me to sanction it.

[gloomyDAY]

I am an optimist.

Besides the fact the taking of another person's life for the purpose of feeling good about oneself is wrong....How would you feel if you assisted in the death of a diseased loved one and the next day was told they had found a cure for their ailment?

As for obligation. I am in no way obligated to assist anyone to do something i believe is wrong.No one should ever feel obligated to make such a tough decision.

As for a cure being found miraculously the next day, quite unrealistic.
If I were terminally ill the last thing I'd want to be is a burden on myself & my family.

[donKey jote]

dave :up:
I too felt like shaking hands with Terry Pratchett

[Rollo]

Connect the dots for me Tony.
You have seen people on their death beds, but do not feel obliged to end their pain? How would you consider that to be murder?

Murder - n - the intentional killing of a human being by another
(OED)

Mr Vop doesn't need to connect any dots. It's a pretty simple sort of concept. Murder is the deliberate termination of someone's life. Is there such thing as "accidental assisted suicide"?

Suicide - n - the intentional killing of oneself
(OED)

Actually the word suicide itself comes from the Latin suicidium, or "sui" meaning self and "caedere" which means to kill, or to apply the OED's definition, self murder.

Mr Vop's position is to be honest totally sensible; I agree with him. It is morally wrong to kill people, for whatever reason. There is of course an obligation to provide "palliative care" but the deliberate act of killing someone is a moral maze.

[Valve Bounce]

I told you how I feel. And the terminally ill knew how I felt. My family knows how a feel as well.

There is no answer to your argument. You believe what you believe, Cardinal Pell believes what you believe, and I believe something else.

[Valve Bounce]

Anyway, if I lost the ability to do simple tasks (like using a computer), and was in extreme pain from an incurable and slow illness, after a while I would consider assisted suicide, as a few other might do as well.

My aunt was in severe pain, she could barely move, and her only sign of recognition was to squeeze my hand when I held her hand. She was like this for a couple of weeks and I always suspected that the doctors helped her to end her suffering.

But if anthonyvop is suffering like that, I would be happy to offer up prayers for him instead. That goes for Rollo also.

[SportscarBruce]

Assisted suicide is an oxymoron.

Suicide is the taking of one's own life.

If somebody "assists" a person to die it is called murder.

For once I agree with anthonyvop, abet not on a philosophical level. "Assisted suicide" is about as ambiguous as apply the term "autobiography" to a work largely performed by a ghost author, i.e. "Going Rogue". Shouldn't have Sarah's ghost writer been signing off alongside her on the book tour? ;)

[Dave B]

I disagree entirely with Anthony's view but it's such a personal decision that I have to respect his stance.

[dunes]

I guess not too many people remember Jack Kavorkian, Defended by Geofrey Figer.
Jack got a few years and got out onmly to continue his right to die campaign. Haven't heard much from him in the last 10 years but his act and his message still brings one rights to mind. Each Individual person should have the right to decide on thier care of a TERMINAL illness and its prolonged pain and suffering.
My opinion is a sore spot for most. Where one cannot put a price on life they should not make a hospital richer and thier family poorer awaiting something that cannot be cured of.Sorry if this offends anyone but it is MY opinion.

[leopard]

If I have money proper medical treatment is preferable, If not I'll take care of it at home, give the patient motivation and immense communication to help getting out of the pain.

[Les]

A different slant on this.... my cat is dying as we speak. Dying a little day by day and I am not sure if she is in pain or not. Tonight we will visit the vet and after careful deliberation we will decide if she is suffering and whether to stop it.
To me that is humane - the best thing I can possible do to something I love.
Now if that was my husband or my mother I sincerely hope I can do the same.

[Langdale Forest]

To me that is humane - the best thing I can possible do to something I love.
Now if that was my husband or my mother I sincerely hope I can do the same.

100% agree. :)

[Mark in Oshawa]

I have stayed away from this thread, because it is a sensitive issue for me. I have a family member who commited suicide, not because of disease, but just depression, and that is a disease in itself.

I feel assisted suicide is one of those things that is contentious. I don't like the idea of allowing doctors to be the peoplel who give you hope, life and care, until they decide you are beyond saving due to cancer or whatever; and then they can then assist you in turning your life off. The ethical concerns of it greatly bother me. Doctors have been wrong...doctors have made bad diagnoisis and doctors often can have their own ethical shortcomings. 99% of the Doctors I would trust to give me the right advice and diagnoisis, but the concerns I have are not maybe logical or rational to some, but I just am against it.

I can see why someone might want to end their life if they had ALS or cancer, but then I look at the courage of a Farrah Fawcett or Patrick Swayze, and I know that the desire to beat the odds and survive never should leave us. Not at least in people young enough to justify the fight. Of course, it is the elderly who are suffering who everyone wants to "assist". The ethics of this are also fraught. What is to stop family members wanting to get to the estate a little quicker helping bump someone off? Or lying to a senior about their health state (it IS possible) and convincing them that ending it now beats dying 2 years hence. This whole subject is many shades of gray, but I err on the side of caution. I don't like it....but I can understand why some might opt for it. I just remember Kevorikian and his acoylytes and I was appalled at this apparent glee in helping people kill themselves. It is a nasty thing to see a man petition for the right to help people die.....

[Mark in Oshawa]

I guess not too many people remember Jack Kavorkian, Defended by Geofrey Figer.
Jack got a few years and got out onmly to continue his right to die campaign. Haven't heard much from him in the last 10 years but his act and his message still brings one rights to mind. Each Individual person should have the right to decide on thier care of a TERMINAL illness and its prolonged pain and suffering.
My opinion is a sore spot for most. Where one cannot put a price on life they should not make a hospital richer and thier family poorer awaiting something that cannot be cured of.Sorry if this offends anyone but it is MY opinion.

Kevorkian is a ghoul. Your logic that the cost to the family and making a hospital richer is immaterial. If the person wants to fight with the faint hope he can beat it, then it is his RIGHT. The cost be damned. IN countries like mine where we have public healthcare, would I now have to worry about some bureaucrat coming in and pushing me to have me push own off button to save the nation money? Who makes the call that some people are beyond or undeserving treatment? Who is to say which terminal illlness is really a terminal illness? How many people who have cancer who supposively are going to die defy the odds? A local celeb up here, Ronnie Hawkins is a rock and roll legend in these parts. HIs old band "the Hawks" became "the Band". He has some money, and he has notierity. 5 years ago he was given 5 months to live. Stomach Cancer. No hope. NONE. Yet he went to some homeopath and changed his lifestyle, and all the rest of it, and he is STILL kicking around and living a good life. Now if he had assisted suicide, and killed himself to save everyone the hassle, would his family be richer for it or poorer for it? You know the answer.

No one wants to suffer, no one wants to feel pain, but we in our modern society always want to take the easy way out. NOTHING worth living for is easy. Nothing worth having is easy to acquire. So if disease and pain are in your forecast, and we all face it some day, it would be really advisable that society be VERY careful before we allow the likes of Dr. Jack Kevorokian to be around selling his services as an "assistant" in giving yourself lethal injection.

It is funny, many who would advocate these services will in the next breath fight to save the life of a convicted killer......ironic...

[slinkster]

Personally... I prefer having the trust and belief that any compassionate, decent jury wouldn't convict a genuinely well-intentioned person helping a loved one at the end of a long, painful and debilitating illness.

It's so difficult because each case is so personal. If one of my family members was in constant pain, was going to die a long, slow and agonising death and no medicine could help... yeah... I think I would want to give them the peace and dignity they deserve by helping them die. But I don't think you could ever ever really understand that sort of situation without being there yourself as some of the members here have already highlighted - Dave and Mark in particular.

Difficult question. :(

[Mark in Oshawa]

Murder - n - the intentional killing of a human being by another
(OED)

Mr Vop doesn't need to connect any dots. It's a pretty simple sort of concept. Murder is the deliberate termination of someone's life. Is there such thing as "accidental assisted suicide"?

Suicide - n - the intentional killing of oneself
(OED)

Actually the word suicide itself comes from the Latin suicidium, or "sui" meaning self and "caedere" which means to kill, or to apply the OED's definition, self murder.

Mr Vop's position is to be honest totally sensible; I agree with him. It is morally wrong to kill people, for whatever reason. There is of course an obligation to provide "palliative care" but the deliberate act of killing someone is a moral maze.

The only gray area in this is the palliative care. I will just say first off Rollo, I agree with you and VOP as my posts indicated. My brother (there, it is out there) attempted suicide. Laid in bed brain dead because he hung himself and my folks got to him before he was dead. In the end, the hospital all but gave us NO hope, as he was in a vegatative state, and we pulled the plug so to speak. They cut off his feeding tubes, but since he has no real conscious being (no sign of awareness, although the body would react to pain, there was no indication there was any brain activity), he then passed within a week. To this day, it hurts me to think what if there was some small spot in that brain trying to reconnect the dots. The Hospital didn't tell use to make the decision they did, but with budgets and the costs involved, you know darn well fiscally that was the decision that made the most sense on their end.

Morally, well......What we did in a sense was "assisted suicide". I think back now, was it the right decision? Logically, it was. There was no evidence that we could point to that would say he would be anything than just a human body laying in a bed reacting only physically to external stimula based on instinct. Morally.....I will never know...and hence my reluctance to ever sanction true "Assisted Suicide".

[anthonyvop]

A different slant on this.... my cat is dying as we speak. Dying a little day by day and I am not sure if she is in pain or not. Tonight we will visit the vet and after careful deliberation we will decide if she is suffering and whether to stop it.
To me that is humane - the best thing I can possible do to something I love.
Now if that was my husband or my mother I sincerely hope I can do the same.

I find it very disturbing that people will compare the pain and suffering of an animal to that of a human.

A cat is a cat. It is not a person no matter how you feel. Your cat is just that...Your Cat. A possession. A piece of property. A Human is not.

[BDunnell]

I find it very disturbing that people will compare the pain and suffering of an animal to that of a human.

A cat is a cat. It is not a person no matter how you feel. Your cat is just that...Your Cat. A possession. A piece of property. A Human is not.

While I do disagree with your overall viewpoint on this matter, as with all others, I do think you make a sensible point here. There is no comparison between these things at all.

[Mark in Oshawa]

While I do disagree with your overall viewpoint on this matter, as with all others, I do think you make a sensible point here. There is no comparison between these things at all.

I see the animals as more than just mere possessions, but I agree too. Human life is more sacred and shouldn't be ever thought of as wasting resources or needing assistance to be put down. If I have cancer and commit suicide, I can answer to my god ( assuming you believe in one as I do) for it. I sure as heck wont want to answer to him for an assisted suicide where I took an active role in the proceedings.

[Les]

If you were to leave an animal in pain you could be prosecuted for cruelty.

If you help a person who is in agony with no hope of remission you could be prosecuted.....

If you were to leave a person in pain you are fine

something somewhere is totally wrong with that IMO

[anthonyvop]

If you were to leave an animal in pain you could be prosecuted for cruelty.

If you help a person who is in agony with no hope of remission you could be prosecuted.....

If you were to leave a person in pain you are fine

something somewhere is totally wrong with that IMO
I don't know what country you are from but in US I know of no law that requires me to render assistance to an animal in distress.

[BDunnell]

I don't know what country you are from but in US I know of no law that requires me to render assistance to an animal in distress.

Are there not laws relating to animal welfare in the USA, though, which can leave one liable to prosecution if they are broken seriously enough?

[anthonyvop]

Are there not laws relating to animal welfare in the USA, though, which can leave one liable to prosecution if they are broken seriously enough?
There are animal welfare laws that have been enacted with no rhyme or reason depending on the Cuteness factor. Basically feel good legislation.

Example: I can dispose of a opossum(Native animal) that is getting into my garbage but I cannot touch a feral domestic house cat (non-native species) that is doing damage to the environment.

There is no law requiring me to render assistance to any animal in distress that is not my property.

[Mark in Oshawa]

Are there not laws relating to animal welfare in the USA, though, which can leave one liable to prosecution if they are broken seriously enough?

It is illegal to torture or abuse an animal, but you can shoot a duck with a hunting license, and not shoot say, a robin. I mean, there is a lot of holes in laws pertaining hunting, and/or animal cruelty but a lot of it is common sense.

The point tho still remains, people are different than animals and the laws pertaining to them are different, so for someone to say it is legal to put down a dog that is suffering, and therefore you should be able to do the same to Grandma is not really the same conversation. I don't think anyone is advocating THAT, but when you start advocating any form of assisted suicide, the debate will then often head towards euthanasia.

[555-04Q2]

I don't know what country you are from but in US I know of no law that requires me to render assistance to an animal in distress.

The US has laws that hold the owner and/or the temporary gaurdian of pets (while the owner is away on holiday for example) responsible for their pets well being at all times. This includes feeding them and helping them if they are in distress (chain around neck is choking them, stuck in a fence, poor health etc). Failing to do so and could lead to a fine and/or jail time. This goes for dogs, cats, horses etc.

I'm not sure though that these laws are valid for a stranger who happens to walk past someone's house and doesnt assist an animal they notice is in distress, has been abandoned etc.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

There are some some forums I go on where people actually think that people and animals should be equal when it comes to rights. I don't understand them.