I mercy killed a rat just now, and I kind of wish I just left it to die on its own.

It's raining right now and the flash flood warnings are on TV. My dogs are inside away from the rain and lightning. Generally when the weather gets like this the rats and bugs try to get inside too.

A rat ran across the white tile floor and I before I could encourage my dog to get it, the chase was already on. Normal case, usually I can get her to only catch it with minimal damange then I'll throw it outdoors. We (me and my dog) get the rat trapped between a corner wall and a bag filled with stuff in the laundry room. I take a trash can and move the bag to the side at the same time pushing in the black plastic trashcan so that entering the trash can is the rat's only option.

The rat isn't having it, I see that its tail is sticking out so I try and touch it, this usually will get it to move, but no dice. So I move the bag a little more so my dog can come in and hopefully scare it in. Back fire, the rat runs back towards underneath the dog. Bad move on the rat's part and my dog nabs it instantly, I guess the trash can was scarier than the dog.

She doesn't respond quickly to my commands of drop it, but I can't let her eat the rat, who knows if it's infected and will make my dog sick. By the third command of drop-it she does, rat is alive but is bleeding from the head. Not badly, but it's also not trying to run away from me. Breathing deeply, deliberately, and slowly. I can't let this thing take hours to die, nor will it survive if I toss it back into the rain.

I pick up the rat by the tail, push my dog out of the room, close the door, and place it in the trashcan. I actually pet the rats head and out-loud said You aren't gonna suffer for long. I run upstairs and grab a clear small tuperware, white vinegar, and baking soda from the garage. I fill this short rectangular tuperware with baking soda half way and place it in the corner of the trashcan with the rat in the middle resting on a dryer sheet. Gave it a moment of silence and began pouring the white vinegar in the baking soda filled tuperware.

The third grade volcano science experiment reaction begins to take place. I'm making sure to only pour in more vinegar when the foam subsides so it doesn't overflow. Rat begins to breath faster as the bottom of the trash can fills with CO2, mouth opens wide, it springs to life. Back legs aren't working so its just a frantic torso, but for only a few short, but very long, seconds. It relaxes and accepts, or maybe that was its last bit of energy spent. It gapes its mouth open a few more times, and the chest ceases movement.

I was the rat executioner tonight, it took less than a minute between grabbing supplies and death. It was quick and was probably less painful than the physical trauma it was currently experiencing. If I let my dog just eat the damn thing I think I'd feel a whole lot less guilt. Hell, even if it ran itself into a rat trap I'd just treat it as something to clean up. But that I had to put thought into how to have its death, that I had to choose it's method vs it choosing its own fate, that I was judge, jury, and executioner holds weight when it maybe shouldn't. I mean, it's a flipping rat. It was seconds of asphyxiation laying on a dryer sheet vs hours of slow agony with physical trauma and non-working back legs.

I open the door to my dog trying to get into the room, calmly pet her head to chill her out and tell her shes a good girl.