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Should I Put An Injured Animal Out Of Its Misery?

26 January, 2017
Q What is the Islamic stance on putting a sick or injured animals out of their misery?

Answer

Asalamu Alaikum,

Thank you for contacting About Islam with your question.

Dr. Shabir Ally addresses this question in the video below:

Transcript:

Aisha Khaja: Dr. Shabir, the question today is about mercy. And someone says, they were driving on a country highway, and saw a fawn with at least one back hoof that was severely mangled,

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And they kept on driving. But later regretted not pulling over and using a knife to put it out of its misery. What does God tell us to do in these kinds of situations?

Dr. Shabir Ally: So, one of the back legs was severely mangled?

Aisha Khaja: Yeah, a fawn with at least one back hoof severely mangled, struggling to make its way across. And they said it was eventually able to cross the road. And the person drove on, but regretted not going back to help, I guess.

Dr. Shabir Ally: Yeah so, it’s a difficult situation. There’s no clear answer to this. But obviously mercy prevails. And we have to be more merciful to ourselves to our environment to animals to everyone. So, what to do in this particular situation?

There may be local laws that prevent people from just killing an animal, even one that is already injured. So, maybe the best thing to do would be to call the local conservation authority. Alert them to the fact that here’s an injured animal.

And they can send out their experts to analyze the situation and see if this animal could be treated and nursed back to health. Or they can decide what to do with this animal.

But in other circumstances, where one would have had to make the decision, and there are no conservation authorities to do deal with this, then—because it is halal (permissible) for Muslims to eat the meat of such animals—then it would have been fine to just simply slaughter the animals to use it for meat.

In which case, the animal’s put out of its misery. And at the same time, its meat is put to good use at the same time. So, that seems to be like the marriage of all good things here.

Aisha Khaja: Just out of curiosity, what happened previously in the time of the Prophet if there were situations like this?

Dr. Shabir Ally: I’m not aware of any such thing that happened. Maybe there is something, but I’m just not aware of it. But putting together what we know to be the general principles of Islam, I would say this seems to be a reasonable solution.

If it is in an area in which we expect that there are conservation authorities and laws applicable to these situations, then we contact the local authorities. If we don’t know the number for a conservation authority, then perhaps 911 would be the first stop.

And they can guide us further. Or they can take it from there. And in other areas where, for example, where there are no such developed laws and conservation authorities, then we would make a judgment on our own.

If it looks like the animal can be treated, treat it. If it cannot, then this is a reasonable solution.


I hope this helps answer your question. Please keep in touch.

Walaikum Asalam.

Please continue feeding your curiosity, and find more info in the following links:

The Mercy of Allah

Mercy – A Trait of the Righteous

What the Prophet Says about Kindness to Animals