[chattiesmom]

To answer your question, in most states dogs are seen as possessions and are treated accordingly as far as the law goes. That being said, you may have the "right" to put her down, but that doesn't make it the right thing to do.

If your precious senior yorkie just started having accidents, it could be due to age, but from what you have shared with us, she has an owner problem, not a house training problem. She has an owner who, for 14 1/2 years didn't spend the time or put forth the effort to house train her and now wants to give her a death sentence because of it.

If you think YTers seem a bit harsh, well, most of us would cherish the thought of having our babies for as long as you have had your girl and would gladly take care of them for the rest of their natural life. For many of us, include me in this category, we have had Yorkies who have left us way too soon and the hole they left in our heart will never fully heal.

I agree that there is a time when we must make decisions regarding our pets. We had to make the heart wrenching decision for Boo, our 15 1/2 year old Boxer, NOT because she was losing bowel and bladder control, or because she had a heart problem that required expensive medication, or because she was deaf and almost blind. Nor did we make the decision because hubby and I couldn't go on vacations 'cause we chose to take care of Boo in her final years. The day she could not stand and would not eat, we called her vet and made an appointment for him to come to our home. We let her go with hubby holding her in his lap, me holding her paw and the three of us crying our eyes out.

I only wish the same for every beloved pet.

If you have children and make the choice to kill this pet of 14 1/2 years because you are finally tired of cleaning up after her, what lesson are you teaching the kids?