Last night a dear friend of my Mother’s passed away and she left three dogs behind! Since the day I heard she would not recover from her illness, I had been asking what would become of her pets, and wanted to know if she had made arrangements for their care and welfare. I had given her caretakers suggestions on getting plans in place before she passed so that they would not be taken to county as orphaned or abandoned animals. I even recommended that they be taken to a foster home before she died.
Sadly, none of this was done! She went into Hospice a week before she died and the three dogs now only had the neighbors to go in a couple of times a day to feed them and let than into the yard. So, this woman, who had no children and considered her three dogs to be her children, died with no plans for their care or future. This morning I heard that her vet had taken them and would find them homes. She is lucky!
You may not be as fortunate, so don’t wait until the eleventh hour to plan the fate of your animals after you leave this earth.
Of course, we all know that our day will come, but you don’t have to be old or sick to leave your animals behind without a plan. You could leave for work, as you do every weekday morning, get into an accident, and die at the scene. Your beloved animals could be in your house for days before anyone knew they were there and needed help! OK, so this is a morbid subject and frankly, if you live your life as if you won’t get home tonight, it won’t be much fun for the rest of it. But, I don’t believe having a plan is negative; in fact, it could save the life of your animals.
I have a laminated bright yellow strip in my wallet that reads: Emergency-Animals At Home. This will at least alert authorities that my furry kids are home alone. I also have In Case of Emergency (ICE) contacts in my cell phone, so they can be contacted and my family and friends can step in to implement my plans for my animals.
None of this was ever a consideration until the day I took my Dad to the hospital and found out I had NO authority to chose any options for him without him previously having been given me legal medical and financial power of attorney. I downloaded the Arizona legal forms and had everything notarized and witnessed and they were always handy from then on, but it took an emergency for me to be prepared.
At that same time I created wills for both he and I, and in my will I made provisions for my furry kids.
Are you prepared? If not, here are a few things you can do:
- Chose a new owner. Make it legal by creating a Revokable Living Trust. This is similar to a will, but it will avoid probate. Be sure to name two people in case one can not fulfill the obligation.
- Leave money to the designated owner for food and vet care.
- If you don’t have anyone to take your animals, contact local rescue groups and make legal arrangements for their re-homing.
- Talk to them. Just because they don’t use words like we humans, they understand more than you think. It will help them understand what is happening should you die before they do.
For more information on how to provide for your pets, check out
http://www.petfinder.com/after-pet-adoption/providing-pets-future.html?printer_friendly=1
or
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/providing-for-pet-will-29534.html
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