I doubt it is a joke. We have a 12 year old dog that has been blind since birth. He's a happy dog! (and an excellent watchdog). I've seen two dogs here (Thailand) with broken backs - probably been hit by a car - that their owners have kept and take care of them. They can only drag themselves around, however they are not in pain, and seem to enjoy being alive.
We should not be quick to take any life.
Did you see the show on Animal Planet about the two stray dogs?
The big one was totally blind and the little one led the big one around safely avoiding the hazards of city life and fetched it food.
Back when my "pup" really was a pup, she tended to pick up/play with everything she ran across.
One night I let them all out to go do their thing and Jack, her uncle, came back to the door with blood splattered all over himself.
I raced outside to see what he'd gotten into and found a very mangled rat snake.
Ordinarily, he'd sniff such a harmless thing and go on his way.
Since the "baby" came, they all have taken great pains to eliminate hazards because I suppose they sensed she didn't know any better than to mess with ~any~ snake, much less judge which were "bad".
She has a thing for puddles and the snake must've been drinking at the perpetual pool that lies directly under one stretch of spouting.
Did Jack "know" she'd head for the puddle immediately and attack the snake to head off disaster?
I'll never know for sure but it seems that way.
I tried to save the poor snake but after being bitten and repeatedly stomped, he had no chance.
One of the coolest things about having 3 or more dogs is that it tends to bring out the "pack behavior" stuff pretty heavily.
It's fascinating to watch and sometimes you feel as if you're truly living with wolves....;))
By the way, I have this bridge in Brooklyn that I am trying to sell if you are interested.