Killing Your Best Friend: A Veterinarian's Journal and Manual of Euthanasia - Paperback

by Michael Mullen (Author), Kate O'Neill (Author)

Death is an uncomfortable but inevitable topic often layered with euphemisms to cushion the reality of loss. Many people will outlive their beloved pets and must make the difficult decision to euthanize an animal. Killing Your Best Friend: A Veterinarian's Journal and Manual of Euthanasia is an unconventional look at issues surrounding end-of-life care for pets by Austin-area veterinarian Michael Mullen with his wife, Kate O'Neill. Their book presents an intimate, compelling journal and practical manual for euthanasia home visits that offers veterinarians guidance while informing pet owners of the process.

Mullen draws upon his vast experience of euthanizing more than 2,000 pets in their homes with the owners present, a practice rarely done before 1985. He was among the pioneers who began using sedation before putting an animal to sleep to ease the death of the animal and the anxiety of the owner. More than twenty years ago, Mullen began writing "death notices" as his own coping mechanism. He organized these journal entries with further reflections, giving readers an inside view to how he performs euthanasia while deftly exploring the accompanying grief, loss, and wisdom gained, often from the people for whom he is performing this heartbreaking service.

Killing Your Best Friend tells the story of how Mullen's attitude toward the most dreaded part of his profession has evolved over the last forty years to curiosity and even to perceiving it as a spiritual honor.

Author Biography

MICHAEL MULLEN has been a visiting veterinarian making house calls in the Austin area since the 1980s. He holds a DVM from Texas A&M University and is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association. His unique veterinary approach was highlighted in The New Yorker's 2024 short documentary "The Passing." KATE O'NEILL, Michael's wife, confidant and witness, planted the seed that is the origin of this book--Michael recording his experiences of the euthanasias that troubled him greatly. They wrote it together using his reflections as a map and an anchor.