A client asks: We are in desperate need of Creator’s advice. As you know, our dog suffers from a torn ACL injury. The last couple of weeks it was getting better bit by bit. However, she still is not completely recovered and often walks crippled. The ‘general’ advice from the veterinarian is to operate her and place an artificial device in her leg. I still have a feeling this is not the best option but also feel hopeless because she is clearly suffering. Could you please ask Creator what is best needed for her? Is the general advice to operate the correct approach for her?

These are always complicated situations because the human perspective so differs from the animal and it is often impossible to reconcile the two, at least to the human’s satisfaction. The natural impulse is to take pity on the animal and with the deep love you hold for your beloved pet, it is very difficult to not see everything that is an impairment as suffering when, in fact, this is often not truly the case, nor in the same way as a human might react to a limitation of this kind. Her limping is because of mechanical deficiency now with the torn ligament impairing motion and mobility significantly, but this is not truly painful for her. It is painful to see and watch and makes a human observer feel sorry for the animal, and this is a restriction, but it is not viewed the same way as would be the case for a human who must now walk with the limp, and may no longer run as fast, and so forth. The surgery can be done to assist things and would restore better overall function for the animal. She is healthy enough to take this is in stride, so this is not poor advice nor would it lead to a greater difficulty and be seen in hindsight as a grave error in judgment to be regretted. As it is the case with injury, animals can weather the insults of surgical manipulation more readily than people, as their ability to heal overall is more robust and they lack the mental and psychological overlay that gets involved with a more frequent stirring up of old karmic business related to infirmity, injury, suffering from physical maladies, and so forth, that often complicate periods of ill health for human beings, but much less so for animals unless there is a karmic repetition that is quite close to a prior traumatic experience and triggers a remembering of the prior episode. But even then, it will not produce the same level of anguish as would be the case for a human recalling past trauma. So this is more a consideration of human need than the need of the animal, so you can weigh the various factors involved with cost, inconvenience, the need for some aftercare, and a period of suffering from the surgical wound. But this would be relatively minor and if the surgery is done well, healing should be straightforward. So we would say this is not necessary because the animal can do well without it and adjust to its current state of being, but if done, would eventually prove to be a benefit to the animal once full healing had been achieved.