Question about killing/euthanasia
tl;dr: last paragraph before “Thank you.”
Hi. I will try to be brief. I would appreciate any guidance because this has been weighing on me heavily. I have rewritten this post several times over several days. I have no reason to expect that I wouldn’t be shown kindness here, but in posting on Reddit before, when looking for help, I have been dragged through the mud. So, I guess what I am saying is, please be kind, if you can. I am just trying to do the right thing and I don’t know what that is.
It seems to me that hiring or directing someone to kill for you is worse than doing it yourself. You are still killing, it is just that you are using another human being as your weapon. So instead of just you getting the bad kamma of killing, both of you do.
2.25 years ago I agreed to foster a cat for a stranger on facebook for 6 months to a year. I told the woman she could visit every two weeks. I never saw her again.
Now the cat is my best friend. He is healthy. But I am not, and I am poor. I have little to no savings. While not young, he is not old, and he is everything a cat-lover could wish for in a cat.
Many cats, when they get sick or old, just wander off to die somewhere. However I don’t know if/when that will happen. It is possible that he will just end up agonizing loudly continuously for weeks. I would not be able to sleep, and if I go to work without sleep I am putting myself and others in danger of grievous bodily harm or even death. I probably won’t have the funds needed to ensure his comfort during the process of dying. And I can’t violate the first precept by euthanizing him should such a set of circumstances arise. So, I am thinking that the best option is to rehome him now, while he is still a delight. Find him a new owner/caretaker who would be happy to have him. He loves all people, so I am confident he wouldn’t miss me too much. I would miss him more.
However, here in America, euthanasia is generally considered to be the humane option for the pains of severe illness or death. My state recently approved medical assistance in dying for humans.
So, if I rehome him (my cat) now, and the new owner does not give me explicit assurances that they won’t euthanize him under any circumstances (which I imagine would be near impossible to come by), and they go on to euthanize him, perhaps years from now, am I culpable for the killing?
Thank you.