Far-reaching implkations Although few companion animals end up in pet cemeteries, the very existence of these graveyards speaks volumes about attachment and honor. Adrian Franklin, a sociology professor at University of Tasmania, notes in his 1999 book Animals and Modern Cultures that such interment not only demonstrates devotion to the pets but also gives them a degree of sacredness not allotted to other beasts.'* Initial epitaphs in U.S. pet cemeteries were impersonal, e.g., "My pet." By the early 1900s, the name was included, sometimes with the age or year of birth and death. After World War II, inscriptions etched in species and human family ties, and memorial photographs appeared.'' Since the 1980s, dogs, cats, and even birds have been …show more content…
Last June, the Society's Monthly Mentions email included a hyperlink to a germane survey that I created with Editor Peter Szatmary. There were 569 completed responses; 57 started but didn't flnish. Eighty-four percent of respondents were female, at an average age of 33.96 years (median age = 37.1; range = 19-77 years). The main reasons cited for pet euthanasia were cancer, renal failure, stroke, crippling arthritis combined with other frailties, and general debilitation. "He was suffering from kidney disease, intestinal disease, [was] deaf, dehydrated, [had] arthritis, a bone spur on his hip. We decided his quality of life was beginning to suffer too much," one respondent explained, for regular intravenous fluids to keep him alive. Another pet owner called euthanasia "the toughest decision I have ever had to make in my life, and I constantly think there was something [else] I could have or should have done," buttressing the earlier reference to ambivalence about the procedure. Eighty-two percent of respondents asked their veterinarian whether euthanasia was the right thing to do, and 98 percent agreed that the veterinarian made the proper recommendation, which was euthanasia 80 percent of the time. Euthanasia occurred at the clinic 90 percent of the time; 61 percent of those patients were dogs, 36 percent cats, and 3 percent other such as guinea pigs, …show more content…
Thirty-six percent buried their euthanized pet: 32 percent in sundry places such as the home garden or family farm and 4 percent in a pet cemetery One percent donated the cadaver to a veterinary school. Five percent checked "other" but did not specify. Besides homages via urns and gravestones, commemorations took numerous forms. The more frequent answers included photos on walls or in family albums, paw imprints, and monetary donations to animal shelters. Others said getting tribute tattoos, planting a tree/bush, displaying the animal's collar, posting on Facebook or other online memorials or making their own pet homepages, and making "a yearly toast to Flicker's life on his birthday including all family members via Skype or speakerphone." Fifty-eight percent obtained another pet, typically the same type of animal, over a vast range of time: one day to 25 years. More than 90 percent agreed that the veterinarian did an overall excellent job and exhibited compassion and care toward the animal and the owner. Eighty-nine percent agreed that the veterinarian possessed good communication skills. Twenty percent of the time the veterinarian suggested palliative care instead of euthanasia, and 76 percent of those clients heeded the advice. Only 21 percent of veterinarians offered grief support, whether individual or group, face-toface, by phone, or online. Twenty-five percent of owners took advantage of this outreach. The scant bereavement counseling warrants