jon katz hits the nail on the head in his bit in

“When Should You Put Your Dog Down? How to make a decision you
never want to make.”

:

“As the owner of three dogs, I spend more than I can
truly afford to keep them healthy and vigorous. But as my
conversations with Jack reminded me, they are not people. Their
lives and deaths ought not be conflated or confused with human
losses.

To love dogs is to know death and to accept that there’s never a
time we are more morally obliged to speak for them than when they
face the end of their lives.”

not so long ago, we had to make

a decision you never want to make

. luckily, our vet was empathetic yet pragmatic in laying out the
options.