let sleeping dogs lie

My parents and nephew lived in Taipei, Taiwan back in 1993, since my father was helping DuPont start up a new plant there. At the plant were some stray dogs, one of whom had puppies. Not wanting the puppies to stave and live a hard life, my father asked a veterinarian about putting the dogs to sleep (I think they did eventually find homes...and my parents brought one mother and her son home with them).

The veterinarian said that he could put the dogs to sleep, but asked what my father wanted him to do with them later on. My father said, "What do you mean 'later on?'" The veterinarian responded, "What do you want me to do with them when they wake up?"

!!!