Study Confirms Euthanasia in Horses is Quick, Humane

Does humane euthanasia really stand up to its name? One research team believes it does.
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Permitting your veterinarian to humanely euthanize your horse can be heart-breaking, even if you know beyond a doubt you are making the right decision. But does humane euthanasia really stand up to its name? A team of researchers recently sought to find out.

“Euthanasia is a term used to describe the ending of an animal’s life in a painless and minimally distressful way,” explained Monica Aleman, MVZ Cert., PhD, Dipl. ACVIM (internal medicine and neurology), from the University of California, Davis, William R. Pritchard Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital.

To provide evidence that brain death in horses occurs quickly following euthanasia, Aleman and colleagues measured physiological parameters (such as heart rate and rhythm), assessed brain stem function (using corneal, palpebral, and pupillary light reflexes and a brainstem auditory evoked response, or BAER), and electrical activity in the heart and the brain’s cerebral cortex in 15 horses scheduled for euthanasia. Loss of electrical activity of the cerebral cortex and BAER are indicators of brain death.

The protocol the study authors used was consistent with how practicing veterinarians perform euthanasias and included placing an intravenous catheter in the jugular vein, administering sedation to relieve anxiety, and rapid administration of the barbiturate pentobarbital sodium (77 to 109 mg/kg, or approximately 100 mL for horses weighing more than 400 kg, or 900 lbs)

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Written by:

Stacey Oke, MSc, DVM, is a practicing veterinarian and freelance medical writer and editor. She is interested in both large and small animals, as well as complementary and alternative medicine. Since 2005, she’s worked as a research consultant for nutritional supplement companies, assisted physicians and veterinarians in publishing research articles and textbooks, and written for a number of educational magazines and websites.

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