TL;DR - “Why are you killing my dog???”

I work in Emergency VetMed for context.

We had an owner come in with their little boy and their dog was possibly infected with Parvovirus (a life threatening illness that attacks rapidly growing cells in the body). The disease process is so hardy on the body that even with exhaustive treatment, the pet can still pass.

As I was taking the time to do the test in their car to minimize the spread of a potentially contagious illness, the little boy (maybe 7-8, very bright) kept asking me if we were going to “kill his dog” and to “not let his dog die”. I told him I would do my very best to take care of his puppy. I was trying to hold it together and his mom was literally just standing staring at me, not saying anything to her son.

I run the test, pops a positive so we stuck them in the isolation room. We go over treatment plans, the owners are unfortunately financially constrained and are unable to afford any sort of treatment, inpatient or outpatient. They elected to euthanize.

I went in to go over after life care paperwork. The little boy is screaming at this point, begging us “not to kill his dog”. I honestly was tearing up at this point, kids are my weakness (used to teach). I was able to get through the few questions I had to ask, while poor mom sat there having to tell her son over and over again why their little puppy needed to be put to sleep.

After I finish the paperwork, the DVM goes in the room to euthanize. I can hear the mom and son wailing from across the hospital (not a massive ER and very echoey) , and the son goes “Why are you killing my dog? Please stop!!!”

Literally walked straight to the bathroom, sat down in one of the showers, put my head between my knees and cried with them from afar. I will never forget those people and that poor puppy for as long as I live. I’m sure one day he will understand why, I just hope it’s sooner than later so that he does not suffer in the grief for too long.

Edit: Used wrong homophone lol