PEACE, LOVE & REAL TALK

Dearly Departed...

EDITORIAL BY: ALICIA ROSE WILLIAMS Founder, Eunoia Rescue

Do you have a plan in place for what happens to your pets if you should pass away? Wouldn’t you want to know that your beloved pet is taken care of in case of your untimely passing? Unfornately, plans are seldom in place and dogs get dumped at shelters when they pass and the outcome will not always be a good one. Make a plan, tell your family!

Although it is sad to see any animal surrendered by their owner, one of the most heart breaking reasons for surrender is the passing of their original owner. This animal is confused because they don’t know where their person is and tend to become pretty depressed in the shelter. It’s very overwhelming for them. The most infuriating part of this scenario is that their own family are the ones to surrender their loved one’s pet over to a shelter. I personally find this incredibly cruel. How would your loved one feel with that decision? Wouldn’t you want to keep the pet around to honor this person’s life? Most of the time, I find that the family would rather not be bothered. At the minimum, responsibly rehome the animal yourself. I can understand not being in a position to take on a new pet – but there is no need to dump this type of a problem onto a shelter and/or rescue.

If you have a relative whose health is declining, it is important to make sure that their pet is not being neglected. Most of the time, this neglect is not intentional. Sometimes these owners are only able to do so much in terms of caring for their pet, sometimes their mind isn’t able to comprehend what kind of care their animal needs. This is just fine as long as someone steps in and addresses what needs to be addressed. During this sad (and sometimes scary) part of the owner’s life, I think it’s important for a person and their pet to be together. It is the responsibility of the healthy ones to lend a hand if and when needed.

It’s a little disheartening when we come in contact with a dog who was obviously loved, but maybe not taken care for the past few months because no one had the time to “step up.” It’s also heavy on the heart to take on an animal that was loved and cared for until the end of their owner’s life. It’s one thing to rescue a dog when their previous life was crummy but it’s completely different when the dog has actually had a wonderful life and now they are in a position that is completely out of their control.

“Try to remember that by taking responsibility of a pet of someone who died shouldn’t be looked at as a hassle – it should be something done in honor of your loved one.”

As a rescue, we deal with the emotions that the family was supposed to deal with for said pet. Are we living up to the owner’s expectations? Does the animal know that it will be ok? Is the animal declining physically or mentally because they are in so much grief? Then there are the decisions that have to be made when the grief starts to subside. Is the animal stable enough to be adopted out? If the animal is a senior, do we put it in our hospice program? If entered into the hospice program, at what point are we supposed to say goodbye? Again, it’s the rescue picking up the slack of people who simply did not care (just like we do in every other case). It is a shame because we care about honoring the departed by trying to do what is right for the sake of their beloved pet; we have to carry this burden. It isn’t our responsibility but we do it anyways.

I know how heartbreaking it is to lose a loved one. I know there’s a lot that has to be done in the aftermath of someone’s passing. Try to remember that by taking responsibility of a pet of someone who died shouldn’t be looked at as a hassle – it should be something done in honor of your loved one.

As far as those who are living and have pets, please take the time to come up with a plan in terms of what will happen if you’re no longer here. It may seem extreme, especially if you’re young and healthy, but it is something that needs to be discussed. We all want what is best for our pet while we’re here, we should continue to want what is best for them if we’re gone. ■