A vet I used to work for did the same thing with an owners horse.

His name was Elvis and he was very lame. He needed to be put down, he was in pain. I remember seeing him in the stall waiting for the vet to come.

The owner loved him so much. She paid for him to be buried on a plot of land on the vets property.

Instead, the vet did a surgery to practice a new technique at the time (like our carpal tunnel surgery) on a mare that he got for free that had a piece of wood imbedded in her shoulder that was far too deep to retrieve. A wound on her chest oozed slightly, but we cleaned it daily and she was a joy to ride. She was in no pain that we could see.

So, he practiced on his free horse, put her down and then put Elvis down too.

THEN, he called for the renderer to come and get them both and got paid for them.

That poor owner spent 500.00 to have her horse humanely euthanized and buried and he did neither.

The way he euthanized horses to cut down on the barbituates as they were costly, was mostly a paralytic, some barbs, and a good dose of a thick cleaning solution that was green Rocal, I think, dumped into a syringe.

His theory was the Rocal put a clot in the heart. The paralytic looked pretty, like the animal wasn't suffering, but it was in fact, feeling pain and very aware of everything. It does not render you unconscious.

Sick, sick, sick.

Yet another reason I will never pay someone to put down a horse for me.

A .45 costs 50 cents, and I know I won't miss.

And if I can't go through with it I know my dad or uncle would put one down for me.