Today a doctor told me to put a bunch of stinky, appealing food in a bowl and bring it to a dog in one of the exam rooms. Then he said, "while you're at it, go into the break room and grab some of the bagels and cream cheese, cookies, and beef jerky and see if the dog wants it." I said "the cookies have big chunks of chocolate in them." to which he replied, "I'm not worried about that, we're about to euthanize the dog." I filled the bowl with a cheddar cheese bagel with cream cheese, a chocolate chip cookie, two cans of cat food, and crumbled beef jerky over the top. The dog was skeptical, having never been allowed to have human food, but eventually scarfed it up. He was an old lab with a spinal injury who couldn't walk anymore. The owner was so emotional I feared for her safety driving home so I offered her a ride but she assured us she would be okay and just sat in the parking lot for a long time. I have great respect for this particular doctor.