Sorry for not posting these last few months. On March 23, my apartment burned to the ground, and I lost everything, computer included. Things look much better now, though.

Some friends of mine had to put their dog down this week, a beautiful Alaskan Malamute. His name was Louis. Louis possessed a Buddha-nature unlike any creature I've ever known. He truly epitomized the word "Zen." He was loved by all.

Louis was diagnosed with cancer less than a month ago. His condition worsened quickly. He almost stopped eating, and became unable to urinate. You could see the pain in his eyes, hear it in his shallow breath, feel it when you rubbed behind his ears. He was dying.

I should mention that my friends had to put down another dog a little more than a year ago. Cancer killed her, too, but she suffered much more than Louis. My friends wanted to keep her alive, so they gave her chemo treatments which may have extended her life, but certainly did not improve its quality. I still remember her standing in the yard, legs shaking, vomiting this green stuff.

My friends learned. Louis suffered no such fate. The last week of his life, he was given fluid injections, just to keep him hydrated. The final call to the vet came Tuesday.

Louis died like everyone would want to, surrounded by loving friends and family on a sofa on which he regularly slept. His dignity intact.

What boggles my mind is that we as a society have no problem seeing the need to relieve animals of suffering, but condemn euthanasia for humans on some kind of moral or ethical ground. What's moral about letting someone suffer?

Instead of dying with dignity, as Louis did, a terminal patient wanting to end his/her pain must resort to jumping off a bridge or swallowing the barrel of a gun. Or he/she could take a chance, and eat a bunch of pills, but unless you're a doctor or pharmacist, you might just end up with permanent paralysis or serious brain damage. None of these options sound very dignified to me.