Our Faculty Member Dr. Mine Yıldırım’s Article, “Veterinary Ethics in Practice” Published in the Journal Animals (Q1)!
12 September 2025
Our Faculty Member Dr. Mine Yıldırım’s article, Veterinary Ethics in Practice: Euthanasia Decision Making for Companion and Street Dogs in Istanbul published in the Journal Animals (Q1)!
This article examines the ethical, emotional, and institutional challenges faced by veterinarians in Istanbul when performing euthanasia on dogs, focusing on the differences between domestic dogs and stray dogs. Based on qualitative interviews with 29 veterinarians practicing small animal medicine in Istanbul, the study reveals that euthanasia for domestic dogs generally involves a process of joint decision-making with owners, emotional preparation, and mutual acceptance; in contrast, euthanasia for stray dogs mostly occurs in conditions where there is no legal guardianship, institutional support, or shared responsibility. These conditions cause veterinarians to shoulder the entire burden of the decision to end life alone, deepening their moral distress, emotional labor, and ethical tension. Through reflexive thematic analysis, six core themes emerge: professional isolation, resistance to routine killing, and the search for dignity in death. This study contributes to the empirical veterinary ethics literature by treating euthanasia not merely as a clinical judgment but as a relational and context-dependent practice shaped by social and institutional deficiencies. Furthermore, it highlights the need for more nuanced ethical frameworks that acknowledge the unequal burdens faced by veterinarians, particularly in urban contexts where healthcare infrastructure is fragile and the boundaries between medical intervention and moral responsibility are constantly renegotiated.
We congratulate our faculty member for this valuable study, and we wish her continued success.
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