Tricycle | Awake in the World

I recently had a dog with prostate cancer that I had a vet put to sleep. The dog was bleeding, moaning, and barely able to walk—we had to carry him around from place to place. We had given him all the pain medication we could, but he was obviously still suffering. It was hard to know how long he would suffer before dying on his own. Given this situation, what is the preferred method for managing the karma of putting the dog to sleep? ~ Scott Hall

Andrew Harvey, teacher, scholar, animal lover, and author of The Direct Path, A Journey in Ladakh, and thirty other books, responds:

The Buddha’s injunction not to kill is a profound one, but the kind of mercy killing you refer to would involve far less karma than killing for other reasons, because of its intention to liberate from suffering. In this case, I believe the best way to manage the karma of taking a life would be to save one, by adopting a dog from the pound—when you’re emotionally ready, of course.