Putting Down Animals

Posted by ESC on August 13, 2004

In Reply to: Putting Down Animals posted by Brian from Shawnee on August 13, 2004

: : : Does anyone out there know why we say "putting down an animal" when we euthanize our furry friends?

: : : thanks for the help. p

: : When an animal is sick or injured, he is "down." Not standing.

: Is the U.S. we'd say "we're having our parakeet put to sleep", but in England I believe they'd say "we're having our budgie put down". Another trans-Atlantic difference I learned from Monty Python.

I agree "put to sleep" is more common in the U.S. Here's an example (from factoryfarming.com) of the use of "downed" regarding sick or injured animals:

"A scientific national opinion survey shows that most livestock producers consider the transport of downed animals to be a problem for their industry and would not oppose legislation banning the marketing of downed animals, according to Ted Friend of Texas A&M University's Department of Animal Science."