Question:
What is the legality, in Islam, for putting down, sick or dying animals, ie. “killing them for compassion”?
Answer:
Here is an excerpt from: Ibn Adam’s Answer “Mercy Killing of Animals to End their Suffering” at Darul-Ifta.
The question is, does killing a sick animal in order to end its suffering come under the categories of “genuine need” and/or “benefit”? If some other benefit is also intended when killing a sick animal, for example to make use of its skin, then there is no doubt it would be permissible, since killing for a useful purpose is allowed regardless of whether the animal is sick or otherwise.
However, if no benefit is intended other than putting the animal to sleep to end its agony, then there is a difference of opinion between classical jurists (fuqaha) on whether it can be killed. Some Schools do not allow its killing, for it is a living soul and thus should be allowed to die its natural death. However, according to the Hanafi and Maliki Schools of Islamic law, if the animal is in extreme pain and close to death and there is no hope of its recovery, then there is no sin in having it killed.
Imam Haskafi (Allah have mercy on him) from the Hanafi School states:
It is permitted to slaughter a cat or dog for a benefit. And it is better to slaughter a dog if it is close to death.” Imam Ibn Abidin comments, “… for in slaughtering the dog, one is relieving it from pain. Tahtawi said that this ruling is not restricted to a dog. (Radd al-Muhtar ala ’l-Durr al-Mukhtar 6/474, Kitab al-Sayd)
It is stated in Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya:
If a donkey becomes ill such that one is unable to benefit from it, then there is nothing wrong with slaughtering it to end its suffering. (Al-Fatawa al-Hindiyya 5/361)
In the Maliki School, Imam al-Dardir (Allah have mercy on him) states in his commentary of Mukhtasar al-Khalil:
It is permitted to slaughter a donkey or mule if one loses hope in its recovery [due to its illness], rather it is recommended to end its suffering. (Sharh Mukhtasar al-Khalil with Hashiyat Dasuqi 2/108)
Dr. Aziz Hussein
