Medical assistance in dying (MAiD) (which includes euthanasia and assisted suicide) is available in an increasing number of countries. In Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland (and was due to be implemented in Canada from 2024) eligibility includes mental suffering in the absence of any physical disorder. There are particular ethical and legal issues when considering MAiD for those involuntarily detained in prisons and hospitals. We describe four recent cases that illustrate these complexities, and highlight issues of equivalence of healthcare and self-determination against concerns about the criteria for determining eligibility of those with non-terminal conditions as well as the objections raised by victims and families and the demands for justice.

Critics of medical aid in dying (MAID) often argue that it is impermissible because background social conditions are insufficiently good for some persons who would utilize it. I provide a critical evaluation of this view. I suggest that receiving MAID is a sort of “hard choice,” in that death is prima facie bad for the individual and only promotes that person’s interests in special circumstances. Those raising this objection to MAID are, I argue, concerned primarily about the effects of injustice on hard choices. I show, however, that MAID and other hard choices are not always invalidated by injustice and that what matters is whether the injustice can be remediated given certain constraints. Injustice invalidates a hard choice when it can, reasonably, be remedied in a way that makes a person’s life go better. I consider the implications of this view for law and policy regarding MAID.

A diverse research literature now exists on the animals, staff and organisations involved in animal sheltering. We reviewed this research through the lens of institutional ethnography, a method of inquiry that focuses on the actual work that people do within institutions. The main topics, identified through a larger ethnographic study of animal sheltering, were: (i) research about shelter staff and officers; (ii) the relinquishment of animals to shelters; and (iii) animals’ length of stay in shelters. After reviewing the literature, we held focus groups with shelter personnel to explore how their work experiences are or are not represented in the research. The review showed that stress caused by performing euthanasia has attracted much research, but the decision-making that leads to euthanasia, which may involve multiple staff and potential conflict, has received little attention. Research on ‘compassion fatigue’ has also tended to focus on euthanasia but a granular description about the practical and emotional work that personnel undertake that generates such fatigue is missing. Published research on both relinquishment and length of stay is dominated by metrics (questionnaires) and often relies upon shelter records, despite their limitations. Less research has examined the actual work processes involved in managing relinquishment as well as monitoring and reducing animals’ length of stay. Institutional ethnography’s focus on people’s work activities can provide a different and more nuanced understanding of what is happening in animal sheltering and how it might better serve the needs of the animals and staff.

It is often argued by health professionals working within the field of palliative care that palliative care and euthanasia/assisted suicide are incompatible. Across the literature, this claim is grounded on the three claims that (1) palliative care and euthanasia/assisted suicide have different aims, (2) euthanasia/assisted suicide is at odds with the doctor’s fundamental role as a healer, and (3) euthanasia/assisted suicide constitutes patient abandonment. Furthermore, even if palliative care and euthanasia/assisted suicide are compatible, it is often argued that the availability of palliative care renders euthanasia/assisted suicide redundant. This depends on two claims that (1) palliative care is always available and effective, and (2) palliative care is always preferable to euthanasia/assisted suicide. This article argues that all of these claims are false, ultimately aiming to establish that palliative care and euthanasia/assisted suicide are complementary rather than mutually exclusive.

Controlled atmosphere (gas) stunning (CAS) has the potential to improve the welfare of poultry at slaughter but there is a lack of consensus about which gas mixtures are most humane. The aim of this study was to evaluate the welfare consequences of different gas stunning approaches. Individual broilers were exposed to gas mixtures capable of inducing unconsciousness and euthanasia while their behavioural, cardiac, respiratory and neurophysiological responses were measured simultaneously. The approaches investigated included anoxia (N2 or Ar with < 2% residual O2), hypercapnic anoxia (30% CO2 in Ar, 40% CO2 in N2) and a biphasic method (40% CO2, 30% O2, 30% N2 for 60 s followed by 80% CO2 in air). Evaluation of the welfare implications of each approach centred on the likelihood of them inducing negative states or experiences during the conscious phase. Hypercapnic mixtures were associated with strong respiratory responses, while anoxic mixtures induced vigorous wing flapping. Electroencephalogram analysis using the correlation dimension (a non-linear measure of complexity) suggested that anoxic wing flapping occurred during periods in which a form of consciousness could not be excluded. Hypercapnic hyperoxygenation (biphasic approach) exacerbated respiratory responses but eliminated the possibility of vigorous behavioural responses occurring during a conscious phase. The relative importance of respiratory discomfort versus the potential to induce significant distress due to convulsive wing flapping and associated trauma is a matter for debate. We argue that respiratory discomfort is unpleasant but may be preferable to the risk of vigorous wing flapping and associated injury while conscious in poultry during CAS.

Finding a responsible method of population control that does not compromise animal welfare is a pressing problem for zoological institutions and conservation breeding programmes. This is exemplified by the conservation breeding programme of the golden-headed lion tamarin, Leontopithecus chrysomelas. The number of golden-headed lion tamarins in captivity is currently being limited by, among other means, the use of contraception. We have conducted a study on the effects of contraceptive methods used in golden-headed lion tamarins. Data were collected through the distribution of a survey. The use of Melengestrol acetate (MGA) implants in females was by far the most widespread contraceptive method. It was very effective in preventing reproduction, provided that females were not pregnant at the time of implantation. Pregnancies that had commenced before MGA implantation were carried to term and resulted in viable infants, as far as noted. However, the degree of reversibility was very low and, if females did conceive after MGA implantation, infant survival was lower than expected. The widespread use of MGA implants in golden-headed lion tamarins (and probably other species) should be seriously reconsidered. Alternative methods of population control should be investigated. Possible options include the use of other contraceptive methods, limiting the number of offspring through natural factors and the use of euthanasia under very strict conditions. Animal welfare implications associated with the use of euthanasia are discussed.

This pilot experiment was conducted to ascertain whether CO2-enriched high expansion foam could be an acceptable and efficient alternative in emergency killing of poultry. This method could have wide-ranging applications but with particular emphasis on small (backyard) flocks, free-range sheds or open (naturally-ventilated) housings. The objectives of the study were as follows: 1) to determine whether the injection of foam and being covered with foam leads to fear or panic reactions in birds; 2) to determine the time taken to render birds unconscious and dead and 3) to determine whether any pathological abnormalities are observed post mortem. Six laying hens were individually exposed to increasing levels of CO2 foam with an expansion rate of 300:1. The test box containing individual birds filled with foam within 30 s. During foaming, two out of six birds tried to escape from the test box (1–2 attempts per bird). Apart from displaying greater alertness, birds showed no aversive reactions to the CO2 foam. Twenty-to-thirty seconds after being covered with foam, five of the six birds demonstrated one or two forcable or convulsive movements. Movement patterns and muscle jerks immediately following this convulsive movement led us to believe that birds lost consciousness at this moment and, within approximately three minutes, all birds had ceased to have a heartbeat. Macroscopic post mortem examination of the birds revealed no abnormalities and microscopic examination showed moderate bronchiolar bleeding and a small amount of alveolar bleeding. After assessing behavioural parameters, measurements of heart rate and pathological data, it is our conclusion that CO2 foam has the potential to be an acceptable method of killing poultry. It is advisable for this method to be examined on a larger scale in order to assess the implications of physiological (EEG and ECG) measurements on welfare.

The distress experienced by animals during the induction of unconsciousness remains one of the most important and yet overlooked aspects of effective methods of anaesthesia and euthanasia. Here we show that considerable differences exist in the aversive responses elicited by 12 common methods of inhalational anaesthesia and euthanasia in laboratory rats and mice. Carbon dioxide, either alone or in combination with oxygen or argon, was found to be highly aversive to both species. The least aversive agents were halothane in rats and enflurane in mice. Exposing these animals to carbon dioxide in any form, either for anaesthesia or for euthanasia, is likely to cause considerable pain and distress and is therefore unacceptable when efficient and more humane alternatives are readily available.