Euthanasia in Aged Horses: Relationship between the Owner's Personality and Their Opinions on, and Experience of, Euthanasia of Horses

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe human–horse bond is powerful and unique and strengthened with years of ownership. Yet, in aged horses, the decision for euthanasia will be faced at some time by most horse owners. We hypothesized that euthanasia is a difficult and distressing decision for most horse owners, and that the decision will be influenced by the owners' personality, difficulty of euthanasia decision, and experiences of euthanasia, as well as external factors. Horse owners were recruited by the use of a postal questionnaire distributed to an equestrian group. A subgroup of surveyed owners was selected based on postcodes for selected regions. One hundred and eleven owners of 350 aged horses in South East Queensland, Australia, completed a personality assessment and were asked to indicate the perceived difficulty in making the decision to euthanize an aged companion horse. Their experience of euthanasia and the perceived distress over the loss of their aged horse, as well as the acceptability of the procedure, were determined. Personality scores were compared with published reference ranges against perceived difficulty to euthanize and experience of euthanasia. The importance of factors that influenced the decision to euthanize an aged horse was also determined. Most owners considered euthanasia of a horse to be a difficult decision, which they based on considerations of the horse's current health, anticipated future quality of life, and veterinary advice. Owners reported the loss of their horse to be a distressing experience rather than providing a sense of relief, although the procedure itself was more acceptable than distressing. Female owners who found it more difficult to make the decision were more likely to have neurotic personalities and they based their decision more on their relationship with the horse and the horse's quality of life. Veterinarians play a central role in the diagnosis of health factors that influence the decision to euthanize but also need to appreciate the distress perceived by owners, in particular as a result of the loss of their horse rather than the act of euthanasia itself. The personality of the owner may influence the extent to which they find this distressing, especially in female horse owners who find the decision to euthanize more difficult.