Table 1.
Overall median (interquartile range, IQR) agreement among persons treating injured wildlife on euthanasia-related questions (n = 78, Likert-scale, in which 1 represents complete disagreement and 7 complete agreement).
| Statements | Median agreement (IQR) |
|---|---|
| If the costs of the treatment are starting to become high, I end up euthanizing the animal. | 1 (4) |
| I end up with euthanasia if the animal’s ailment requires more than half a year of treatment and the animal is not of a species that hibernates. | 1 (4) |
| I end up with euthanasia if the animal’s ailment requires more than half a year of treatment during which it would hibernate for part of the time. | 1 (4) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me, in my opinion it should be euthanized immediately regardless of the species and of its condition. | 1 (2) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me, it should be euthanized immediately if the species in question is common. | 1 (2) |
| Whether or not the animal will survive in the wild after treatment does not have any impact on my decision related to euthanasia. | 2 (4) |
| I think a wild animal should be rehabilitated even if will be fully dependent on humans for the rest of its life. | 2 (5) |
| I end up with euthanasia if I believe that the treatment will cause the animal a lot of stress. | 3 (2) |
| I think a wild animal should be rehabilitated even if it will be partly dependent on humans for the rest of its life. | 3 (5) |
| I do not as easily euthanize endangered species, and I try to treat them longer than I treat less endangered species. | 4 (5) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me I will start the treatment, but only if it is unlikely to stress the animal very much. | 4 (4) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me I could start treating it whatever its species and condition, but any end-of-life solution should be known within 2 days at the most. | 5 (6) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me I would start treatment only if it was unlikely to cause a lot of pain and suffering. | 5 (4) |
| I think a wild animal should be rehabilitated only if it is very likely to return to the wild. | 5 (3) |
| I think a wild animal should be rehabilitated if it is quite likely to be returned to the wild. | 5 (3) |
| I think a wild animal should be rehabilitated even if there is only a small chance that it will be returned to the wild | 5 (4) |
| I think a wild animal should be rehabilitated if there is a place for it in a zoo. | 5 (4) |
| I end up with euthanasia if I think that the treatment will cause the animal a lot of pain. | 6 (3) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me, whether or not it is of an endangered species, treatment can start while an end-of-life solution is being sought. | 6 (3) |
| If there is no known end-of-life solution for the animal at the time it is brought to me, and it is of an endangered species, it can be treated indefinitely until an end-of-life solution is found. | 6 (4) |
| It is unlikely that I would euthanize the animal if it could easily be returned to live in the wild. | 7 (0) |