Of Pets and People - a photoless Friday DogBlog

Over Memorial Day weekend, a former colleague of mine passed away after a recurrence of cancer. She elected to forego further treatment, and simply pain-manage whatever her final time was going to be - it was shorter than she expected.

She was a lover of animals - a frequent volunteer for the Humane Society - fostering pets, and adopting several over the years.

At the time of her death, she had one older lab mix, in failing health himself. I don't think she expected him to outlast her, but he did, and in the days since her passing, figuring out what to do with him presented a challenge to her family.

Southern Oregon is a small place. Connections exist between people that they are unaware are even there. She could never know that her vet would hire someone close to me mere days after her passing, and thus that word would reach me of the dilemma of finding a new home for a pet with immediate need for care.

We never know for certain how much time we have. Sometimes in later life, we can work with better estimates, but even for me in my late 30s, I should be considering the other lives connected to mine. For those of us with children and spouses, those thoughts have more urgency, but we need to remember our pets, as well. I have several animals in my home that are mine with no shared claim. I don't currently have a plan for them, though I have friends I trust would figure something out. They shouldn't have to work without guidance.

So this weekend, I will sit down and work out with several close to me, what would become of Sallah, Thought, and Memory. My shared critters - Skitters and Indy, have others with immediate claim, but I will confirm those situations as well.

My former colleague's dog will go on Sunday to live with one of my current colleagues. The arrangements were made today after several phone calls and some tears. His waning weeks or months or years will be with loving humans and the circumstances of the past month will have solace for the next and final chapters of his life, from stray to foster to rescue to hospice mutt.

We look to our animals for comfort and companionship in some of our darkest moments. They should be able to look to us for the same.