On Sunday, Sheila and I had taken Chase to the local park as there is usually a lot of activity going on during the weekends. We thought it would be a good opportunity to work on Chase’s need to chase things that move in a very busy environment. The place was full of activity as there was some kind of kid’s soccer tournament/practice going on. I said to Sheila I was going to bring Oliver here after we took Chase home because Oliver loves being out and about. He loves to “see and be seenâ€. The hustle and the bustle of it all make him so happy and I don’t take him out as often as I should. So that is what I did. Unfortunately, the soccer games were breaking up just as I arrived with Oliver. But Oliver had fun running around using his nose to smell all things smelly and his tongue to lick up water on the wet grass.
For those of you who haven’t met my foster dog, Oliver is disabled. A truck rolled over his back which caused spinal nerve damage. This resulted in his back legs being paralyzed. Through water therapy and acupuncture, Oliver’s nerves are in the process of regenerating and he can walk – well his own version of walking. He is not completely stable on his feet. He often stumbles and can’t walk on all surfaces yet. But Oliver is getting there.
While at the park, Oliver and I ran into, someone I know. By this time, Oliver had been running around for a ½ hour so he was stumbling more and his weaker back leg would sometimes drag behind him. We went over to say hi and she petted Oliver and asked how he was doing. She asked me why Oliver hadn’t been euthanized when he came into the SPCA way back in January and I explained to her why. Then she said a funny thing that struck such a chord in me. She said Oliver had no quality of life (she meant right now – not before when he was first injured) and that the best thing would be to PTS him. I was shocked that she thought this. I said “I think he has quality of lifeâ€. She said “you give him quality of lifeâ€. I wasn’t sure what she meant by this as I think Oliver gives himself quality of life. I said I think he is pretty happy. And she agreed that he seemed pretty happy to be out here. I then said that Oliver doesn’t know he is disabled and she agreed he didn’t seem to let his disability hold him back. We were interrupted by someone else approaching her and wanting to meet one her dogs so I left. I wanted to leave as I was disturbed by the conversation. I came home and talked to Sheila about it. We discussed the fact that no one had ever told us that Luke should be euthanized for his disability. Luke being blind and deaf actually is more reliant on us than Oliver. So we wondered if Oliver’s lack of quality of life for some people was based on the way he looked – stumbling around on his legs as opposed to Luke who walks normally (i.e. Oliver’s disability is more in your face). Does this mean that some people will look at children who have cerebral palsy or are mentality challenged or are reliant on a wheel chair and believe these children have no quality of life? What is quality of life? I have always thought that if you are pain free and happy then you have quality of life. It was a long haul for Oliver to get where he is today but I see a happy dog and, thus, never ever considered he doesn’t have quality of life. The first time I met in Feb he was a happy little guy dragging himself around.
To be honest, the question of Oliver’s quality of life has come up before for other people. I guess I was just shocked that someone could look down at Oliver’s happy, panting face after having a run around the park and say yeah maybe he shouldn’t be alive. Its funny how he can create this reaction in some people and yet I can take him to a luncheon where he gets a standing ovation. I guess that means everyone has their own definition of what quality of life is.
i think pretty much every moment that i would rather be dead...just kidding.
i remember once we did an experiment in a psychology class...we all viewed the exact same object and the exact same sequences of events at the exact same time and OMG, were the PRECEPTIONS of every single student different!! it blew my mind.