He has been no stranger to controversy since becoming a Reform MP last year – and now Rupert Lowe has sparked fury after having his pet labrador put down with a rifle.
Colleagues were shocked after it emerged Mr Lowe – now sitting as an independent – asked his gamekeeper to shoot 17-year-old Cromwell in the back of the head at his Gloucestershire estate.
The dog had been unwell and lost the use of his back legs. Mr Lowe said he took decisive action after realising Cromwell’s suffering was extreme and that waiting overnight to take him to the vet would be ‘cruel’.
He made the admission openly to colleagues in Westminster, triggering fierce debate about whether it was a kind choice.
A parliamentary source said: ‘For weeks, it was going around the Commons like wildfire that Rupert had shot his dog. Colleagues were appalled and upset, with most thinking it was a cruel way to behave.’
Some MPs see a town-versus-country element to this method of putting animals down. Those in rural areas, including landowners, are seen as being less sentimental.
One MP said: ‘It’s an “old money” thing to do. That may have been acceptable 100 years ago but it’s not now.’
Mr Lowe told The Mail on Sunday last night that he believes it is more humane to have a dog put down at home because animals can sense something is amiss at the vet and tend to panic.
The Great Yarmouth MP said: ‘My keeper shot our dog the other day. He was a labrador of 17.
‘Dogs do go through ups and downs for a bit, but in the end Cromwell’s back legs went and our keeper Kevin very kindly did the job.
‘Cromwell didn’t go anywhere, he wasn’t away from home and he wouldn’t have known anything about it. So much kinder.
‘They are not driven to the vet, they don’t smell the vet, it’s just all over very quickly.’
Mr Lowe said that while he gave the instruction to shoot Cromwell, he couldn’t stomach doing it himself.
He added: ‘I would find it difficult, which is why my keeper did it. So you can call me a coward on that basis, if you want.
‘I’ve got friends who can shoot their dogs. [They] just take them on a walk, put a shooting rifle at the back of their head and bang, done.
‘They don’t feel anything. I would have found it hard. He was 17 and had been with us that long.
‘I would be proud to tell you it was me who did it, [but] I can’t claim that credit.’
Mr Lowe had Cromwell buried by his tennis court, with his previous pets, and raised a toast to him.
Elizabeth Davenport, campaign manager at Animal Aid, said: ‘It highlights a serious failing of animal protection in the UK.
‘There is currently no legislation that protects dogs from this kind of “at home” euthanasia – or indeed many other concerning practices.
‘Legislation that does exist, such as the Animal Welfare Act 2006, only protects animals from “unnecessary” harm but allows individuals – who may have no prior knowledge or experience of animal health and welfare – to decide what is or is not necessary.’
In December, Reform Chief Whip Lee Anderson posted on social media about having his West Highland terrier Alfie, also 17, put down by a vet.
Mr Anderson wrote: ‘This morning Alfie went to sleep for the last time. All his pain has gone. He has left a massive hole.’
Meanwhile, US Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem’s chances of being Donald Trump’s vice-presidential running mate evaporated last year after she wrote about shooting dead her 14-month-old wirehair pointer Cricket, who she deemed ‘untrainable’, and a troublesome goat.
FOR: Going to the vet is so distressing for them
by Jamie Blackett
Putting an animal to sleep is not as easy as the euphemism sounds. My dog Pippin can smell a vet at 50 paces, so going to the surgery is a rather distressing ordeal.
Once there, a vet has to shave a patch of fur on the scruff before finding a vein to slide the needle into. While a dog doesn’t understand euthanasia, it can sense something nasty coming – even if the vet carries out the procedure at home.
I’ve been through this a number of times with past dogs and, though I have never been able to bring myself to shoot one, I suspect it would be much kinder.
I’ve certainly shot dozens of cattle over the years, as I run a farm in Dumfriesshire. If one is beyond help, the vet shakes her head and says: ‘Will you deal with it?’
So, as the cow has its head in delicious cattle cake feed, I take aim and she is gone before she even hears the shot.
Similarly, Rupert Lowe’s dog will have woken up in the happy hunting ground in the sky without knowing anything.
What is wrong with that? We owe it to our animals to make their end as quick and painless as possible.
- Jamie is the author of Land Of Milk And Honey: Digressions Of A Rural Dissident
AGAINST: What if one bullet wasn’t enough?
by Beverley Cuddy
For many people, dogs are cherished as members of the family, which is why they deserve the same dignity at the end of their lives as our two-legged relatives. After all, we often love them even more.
In the 35 years I’ve been editing Dogs Today magazine and campaigning for higher animal welfare standards, I’ve seen dogs’ quality of life improve dramatically. But, equally, we must ensure the quality of their death is never scrimped on.
My dogs have all had planned and idyllic endings. Take my bearded collie, Sally. She chewed on the best steak and some very crispy bacon while I cradled her in my arms and told her what a perfect dog she’d been as our vet expertly sent her on her next adventure.
Even Oscar, my latest dog to pass – who had an emergency mercy killing at a late-night veterinary chain – was given a gentle death.
I could never have my dogs shot, however infirm. For one, it prevents you from comforting them in their last moments.
And what if one shot wasn’t enough? What if your last memory of them was of cleaning up the splatter from a violent, messy death? Much better to be nightmare-free.
- Beverley is the editor of Dogs Today magazine
