Some of the most painful moments I spend as a vet ( ) are those spent with my customers assisting my animal patients from this world to the next. Making this final decision is not easy, and I have often felt powerless to comfort the sorrowful owners. That was before I met Shane. I had been called to examine a ten-year-old dog named Belker who had developed a serious health problem. The dog's owner--Ron, his wife, Lisa, and their little boy, Shane--were hoping for a miracle  . But I told the family there were no miracles left for Belker, and offered to perform the euthanasia   for the old dog in their home. As we made the arrangements, Ron and Lisa told me they thought it would be good for the four-year-old Shane to observe the euthanasia. They felt Shane could learn something from the experience. The next day, _  Shane seemed so calm, patting the old dog for the last time, that I wondered if he understood what was going on. A few minutes later, Belker slipped peacefully away. The little boy seemed to accept Belker's death without any difficulty or confusion. We sat together for a little while after Belker's death, wondering aloud about the sad fact that animal lives are shorter than human lives. Shane, who had been listening quietly, piped up: "I know why." Shocked, we all turned to him. What came out of his mouth next astonished me. I'd never heard a more comforting explanation. He said, "Everybody is born so they can learn how to live a good life: like loving everybody and being nice, right?" The four-year-old continued, "Well, animals already know how to do that, so they don't have to stay as long." Shane's parents wanted Shane to witness the euthanasia mainly because   _  .
they hoped he could gain something from it they knew he hated to part with Belker they wanted him to remember Belker forever they intended him to learn to carry out euthanasia