It's taken over a year for me to write this post because I get sad, and don't want to think about things that make me sad, so I stop.... but I think it's really important.
My very good friend, Brandy, passed away at her home unexpectedly last year. It was just her and her two sweet dogs, Luna and Charlie, and there was no plan in place for those sweethearts if something tragic like this were to happen. A neighbor/friend took them in temporarily... long story short, Charlie ran off, never to be seen again. I still get occasional updates about Luna and hear that she's doing fine, but there's no doubt in my mind that she's not getting treated as well as Brandy would have wanted. (I literally feel pain in my heart when I think about her)
My other very good friend, Amy, passed away in the hospital unexpectedly last year, too. She left behind three amazing dogs - Ginger, Rocky, and JuJu - also with no plan in place for them. Ginger was adopted by a couple whom she loved dearly but sadly passed away a few weeks after Amy. Rocky was adopted by one of Amy's coworkers - I've heard that he's living his best life, and JuJu got adopted by one of her neighbors, and it sounds like he's thriving as well!!
Not all pets get "lucky" enough to have someone else step in and take over their care when their human passes away, though. Shelters are full of pets whose owners passed away without having a plan in place for them, and they must be so sad, scared, confused, and traumatized by being taken out of their home and brought in by animal control.
What would happen to your pets if you were to die tomorrow?
Brandy and Amy were both only in their early 50s, and we all know that deaths and accidents can occur at any age - so this definitely isn't something that only senior citizens need to be thinking about; all pet owners should have a plan in place in case of your unexpected death. (And if you're a fan of True Crime podcasts, like I am, I'm sure you've heard a few horror stories about people being murdered in their home and the poor pets being there to witness it all. Can you imagine getting dumped in a loud, scary shelter after witnessing something so awful?!)
This is a perfect example, and it happened the day I posted this blog. Soooo the police went to see if a neighbor could watch this guys pet (after he killed his father, his stepfather, and himself) and they found the neighbor dead, too!!! This stuff actually happens. Now where is that poor pet going?!
All you have to do is read some posts from your local shelters to see how many animals have a story like, "Gemini is a fun, 6-year-old mixed breed sweetheart whose owner sadly passed away," or "Sassy is an 18-year-old domestic shorthair cat whose 95-year-old mom passed away and the woman's husband isn't allowed to have pets in his nursing home." Some of them will even go on to tell you that, even though Sassy's mom had 7 adult children, 25 adult grandchildren, and a couple dozen nieces and nephews, NOT ONE of them stepped up to give Sassy a comfortable home where she could grieve and be taken care of for the rest of her days.
I've even heard stories of spouses dumping their deceased loved one's pet off at a shelter because they didn't want to take care of them after the husband/wife died!!! (Humans can be absolute monsters)
I'm not writing this post as a "how to," there are plenty of articles already out there for that. I'm just hoping that you'll give it some serious thought, even if you THINK you'll be alive longer than your pets, and even if you THINK someone that cares about you will step up and take care of them after you're gone.
Here are some links to get you started - and you can always consider me to look after them for you, but you'd also need to leave them a house so that I can move into to continue their care.
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