A veterinarian euthanised six of her own pets -- and then used the drugs to euthanise herself. Coworkers were aghast when they showed up at the vet clinic in Pelham, Georgia to find Dr. Edith Klein, and her four dogs and two cats, dead, apparently at her own hand. The sheriff's office reportedly believes that financial troubles were behind the suicide. I get killing yourself. I mean, I don't "get" it entirely, but I do. We've all occasionally been overwhelmed, depressed, seeing no hope, and feeling the only way out of our struggle and pain is to end our life. But killing your beloved pets too? Especially when you're a vet?

Customers wrote on Dr. Klein's Facebook page about what a wonderful and caring veterinarian she was. But apparently finances caught up to her as new vets began opening up in the area, possibly taking business away from her. We don't know what else was going on in Dr. Klein's life -- she may have been struggling with more than one issue.

But what could have gone through her mind to take the lives of her trusting animals too? I often think about my pets and what might happen to them if something happened to me. I do not have family who could take them. So I've asked around repeatedly to my friends, and finally settled on someone who I felt would REALLY take them if need be, and not who might just SAY so to make me feel better. I then set aside money for her and the care of my pets.

Perhaps Dr. Klein didn't have this option -- after all, it would be difficult to find a home for so many animals. And I don't know what breed her four dogs were, but if they were of the pit bull variety, she would have had a very hard time finding them homes, or even shelters to take them. She must have felt if she left them behind, they may end up at a kill shelter and then die without her. Perhaps she felt that she could put them down painlessly and humanely. At least she didn't leave the dirty work to anyone else -- as millions do every year who carelessly drop off their animals at kill shelters.

But I can't imagine what went through her mind as she put down her pets -- one right after the other. If you've ever put down a pet and watched it happen, it is not a pleasant process, no matter how painless it might be. To do that six times -- I can't fathom.

And then she turned the needle on herself. Tragic.

Do you think people are ever right to take the lives of their pets?


Image via Elsie Esq/Flickr