Ringworm is a leading cause of shelter cat euthanasia despite being treatable. Modern management protocols demonstrate that cure is achievable and euthanasia for ringworm is ethically indefensible.
The decision to euthanise shelter cats for ringworm when cure is achievable is a welfare and ethical failure. Modern treatment protocols have demonstrated that ringworm is a curable condition, not a death sentence. Shelters euthanising for ringworm often lack either the resources or the protocols — both can be addressed. The welfare harm to cats includes the treatment experience (repeated bathing, topical application) as well as the risk of avoidable death. Treatment-experienced shelters report that proper protocols are manageable and that the welfare cost of structured treatment is outweighed by the lives preserved. Shelter medicine has advanced to a point where ringworm euthanasia should be viewed as a systemic failure requiring resource and protocol solutions.