We Treat Dogs Better

I just received the announcement that Terry Schaivo has died. I have had a question in my mind ever since the feeding tube was removed - now seems as good a time as any to ask it.

Regardless of the controversy surrounding this particular issue, the decision was made to allow her to die. The method of ending artificial support that was chosen was to remove her feeding tube. This, in effect, starved her to death.

You may remember that I had my dog euthanized a little over a year ago. The way I knew it was time was that he had stopped eating. My wife and I made the decision that, rather than allow him to starve to death, we would have him euthanized.

My question is this. Why is it considered humane to euthanize a dog rather than allow him to starve himself to death, but it is okay to starve a human to death rather than euthanize them?