Why don’t we euthanize permanently disabled animals and birds at ALKIONI?
From the very start of our project at ALKIONI, we made a decision not to euthanize disabled animals, but instead to give them shelter in comfortable and quiet conditions.
But why do we insist on keeping disabled animals alive?
At ALKIONI at any given time, we are typically sheltering around 300 wild birds, among which are Eagles, Falcons, Kestrels, Peregrine falcons, Pelicans, Herons, Owls, Storks, Swans, Ducks, Geese, etc.
We are part of a small minority of Wildlife Hospitals in Europe who have been able to remain open despite financial and spatial costs, who strive to continue providing sanctuary to animals who exit the treatment process permanently diasbled.
But why do we insist on keeping disabled animals alive?
This is above all a moral decision.
Most of the animals that we take in have been injured due to contact with the human world, such as in hunting and in collisions with cars, windows and electricity cables.
Our role is therefore to ease their pain and anxiety and, where possible, to help them live freely again.
The next stage of our responsibility lies in helping to transform the human behaviours that led to the intentional or unintentional suffering of these animals.
How can we give these animals a lethal injection instead of offering them care and affection?
In the wild, wild animals have their own dignified way of coping with the transition from life to death.
When they decide that their time has come, they find a quiet spot where they remain without food or water until they die.
We believe it’s not up to us to interfere with this tranquility by deciding when this passage should occur. Animals that come to us are kept alive until the point at which they are ready to die.
Disabled animals that cannot be released back into the wild are invaluable in helping to rehabilitate other animals for release. For example, when an injured falcon is in the process of recovery for release, it is often at great risk of dying from the stress of captivity. The presence of a disabled bird of the same species in its enclosure helps to make it feel calmer and start eating on its own more comfortably.