Animal Euthanasia and Health Care
A vet advised that she was doing animal liberation practices once a week. She was also helping people care for sick animals, so that the animals could die naturally instead of being euthanized. She asked if there was any benefit in taking photos of the sick or deceased animals around holy objects.
My very dear Alice,
Thank you very much for your kind letter. Thank you very, very much for all you are doing; for the animal liberations and for benefiting animals that are sick. Thank you also for all the practice and study you are doing. I am very happy.
Regarding your question about taking photos of dead, sick or stressed animals around the holy objects— no, that doesn’t have much effect. If you pray for the animals and dedicate the merit to them, that is better.
Regarding euthanasia, if the animal is going to be reborn in a hell realm, then even if someone decides the animal is in too much pain now and is suffering too much and they give it an injection so it dies; in reality if it then gets reborn in a place where the suffering is so much more, then as you can see it’s not so helpful. If the animal is going to be reborn in a higher realm, then for the sake of the animal, it’s ok. But if the animal is going to be reborn in a lower realm where the suffering is unbelievable, unbelievable, then the suffering it is experiencing now is nothing compared to the suffering in the hell realm, where the suffering is inconceivable, like the sky, so big.
If you have blessing pills, mani pills or any pills blessed by His Holiness the Dalai Lama, or any other blessed pills then you can put in the animal’s mouth, to bless the mind. Also, you can recite mantras in the animal’s ear, not in a soft way, but loudly so the animal can hear. Make sure the animal can hear the mantras. Reciting quietly may still be helpful, but I think reciting louder is better, so the animal can really hear. That is the most important thing. It’s the same for human beings, even for those who are in a coma; reciting mantras very loudly so they can hear is very important.
Below are some links to advice I have given previously on how to benefit animals, on different ways to benefit them, so please do study these.
- How to Benefit Animals in Daily Life and in Death
- Practices to Benefit Animals
- Benefiting Animals
- Mantras to Benefit Animals
Please continue your life as much as possible with bodhicitta.
With much love and prayers...