Dog cremated after owners death.

[penn19]

Thoughts on this? It doesn’t even seem legal to me.

https://www.nbcwashington.com/news/...wner-Asks-to-Be-Buried-With-It-510236161.html

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I saw this today and it absolutely infuriated me!

 

[lifesavacation]

That’s a terrible story.

 

[Imzadi]

I'm kind of on the fence about this one. I don't believe animals should be killed just to be put in the casket with the owners. (Glad it's even illegal in places.) Yet, do people on this thread believe that all healthy pets are automatically re-homed after their owners die? That's a wonderful fantasy. But, the reality is, if a friend or relative doesn't keep the animal(s) of the deceased, and they aren't given to no-kill shelters, they are usually turned over to kill shelters and they get euthanized when no one adopts them.

The dog could have just as well sat in the shelter, not adopted out during the same 2 weeks, and been euthanized by them anyway. As much as they'd like to say it could have been re-homed. It doesn't always happen. Hundreds of perfectly lovable, healthy dogs & cats are euthanized every week, who never get to live in a great home or have been loved like this one was.

I would have rather, that the owner thought enough about the dog and wanted it's ashes with her, rather than it's ashes dumped where ever they get dumped when unadopted animals get euthanized by shelters. I also would have liked her giving the dog a chance, first, to have been adopted out though.

And I DO wonder if it hadn't been given that chance, and those details conveniently left out of the article. The normal adoption time for animals in shelters is 2 weeks. The same amount of time the dog had been there. The dog could have been taken back by the estate, when no one came in who wanted to adopt that dog, so the estate would have control of the remains, instead of the shelter.

 

[ronandannette]

This is not uncommon. When I was in funeral service I encountered it several times. As I understand it, humanely euthanizing a pet is the sole decision of the owner, providing they can find a vet to perform it. I would also suspect in rural areas there are occasions where, shall we say, less clinical methods are used.

Regulations prohibit cremating animals in the same facility as humans but the remains can be combined in a single urn by the family afterwards. (This would not be done by the funeral home.) There would be nothing preventing casketing a deceased person with a dead pet for burial but I personally never saw that happen.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Well, the thread title certainly buried the lede. I was all like "what's wrong with cremating your dog?"

 

[RangerPooh]

A healthy, living animal did not need to be killed and cremated in order to be buried with their owner. The owner was dead, they wouldn't know if you put a picture of their pet, a similar sized stuffed animal, or the remains of something else in there.

 

[penn19]

Well, the thread title certainly buried the lede. I was all like "what's wrong with cremating your dog?"

Haha. You’re right! I guess I should have worded it differently!

 

[ronandannette]

One thing I don't understand after having re-read the article is related to the dog being in a shelter. Apparently it was there for 2 weeks before the executor of the woman's estate retrieved it so her wishes could be carried out. The shelter representative said it could have easily been re-homed. If so, why wasn't it during the period it was in the shelter? How did it end up in the shelter in the first place and was it just being warehoused there waiting to be retrieved? Granted, I don't know much about things like this but is that how animal shelters work?

 

[gwynne]

One thing I don't understand after having re-read the article is related to the dog being in a shelter. Apparently it was there for 2 weeks before the executor of the woman's estate retrieved it so her wishes could be carried out. The shelter representative said it could have easily been re-homed. If so, why wasn't it during the period it was in the shelter? How did it end up in the shelter in the first place and was it just being warehoused there waiting to be retrieved? Granted, I don't know much about things like this but is that how animal shelters work?

Yikes. I don't think this is how animal shelters work in general. What a selfish, cruel plan by the owner. How awful he/she apparently was able to find someone who would carefully carry out their plan.
https://www.nbc12.com/2019/05/16/loved-death-is-euthanizing-pets-be-buried-with-dead-owners-ok/

"Sometimes, people love their pets too much. Such was the case with Emma, a healthy Shih Tzu mix that was recently euthanized after its late owner left explicit instructions the dog be put down - and laid to rest - with her.

It’s a practice that’s not only cruel, but one, that in most cases here in Virginia, is illegal.

“Emma” arrived at the Chesterfield Animal Shelter on March 8. During her two-week stay, shelter personnel had several discussions with the executor of the dead woman’s estate, trying to talk him out of euthanizing the dog so it could be laid to rest with its master, but to no avail.

It’s a scenario that left shelter employees heartbroken.


“We did suggest they could sign the dog over on numerous occasions, because it’s a dog we could easily find a home for and re-home,” said Carrie Jones, manager of Chesterfield Animal Services. “Ultimately, they came back in on March 22nd and redeemed the dog.”

 

[ronandannette]

I don't think this is how animal shelters work in general. Yikes.
https://www.nbc12.com/2019/05/16/loved-death-is-euthanizing-pets-be-buried-with-dead-owners-ok/

"Sometimes, people love their pets too much. Such was the case with Emma, a healthy Shih Tzu mix that was recently euthanized after its late owner left explicit instructions the dog be put down - and laid to rest - with her.

It’s a practice that’s not only cruel, but one, that in most cases here in Virginia, is illegal.

“Emma” arrived at the Chesterfield Animal Shelter on March 8. During her two-week stay, shelter personnel had several discussions with the executor of the dead woman’s estate, trying to talk him out of euthanizing the dog so it could be laid to rest with its master, but to no avail.

It’s a scenario that left shelter employees heartbroken.


“We did suggest they could sign the dog over on numerous occasions, because it’s a dog we could easily find a home for and re-home,” said Carrie Jones, manager of Chesterfield Animal Services. “Ultimately, they came back in on March 22nd and redeemed the dog.”

Right - that's what I already read. Doesn't clear up my confusion about why the dog was in the shelter in the first place and why it hadn't been re-homed (if it was such a desirable type of dog). Don't the owners give up their rights to the animal when it goes into a shelter? Can shelters just be used as some sort of cost-free boarding facility?

 

[Imzadi]

One thing I don't understand after having re-read the article is related to the dog being in a shelter. Apparently it was there for 2 weeks before the executor of the woman's estate retrieved it so her wishes could be carried out. The shelter representative said it could have easily been re-homed. If so, why wasn't it during the period it was in the shelter? How did it end up in the shelter in the first place and was it just being warehoused there waiting to be retrieved? Granted, I don't know much about things like this but is that how animal shelters work?

Exactly what I was wondering. There seems to be details missing. Since when do shelters kennel dogs? Aren't most of them overrun with animals they have to euthanize because more are coming in all the time? And usually 2 weeks is the limit for animals being there before they get euthanized.

 

[Moliphino]

Right - that's what I already read. Doesn't clear up my confusion about why the dog was in the shelter in the first place and why it hadn't been re-homed (if it was such a desirable type of dog). Don't the owners give up their rights to the animal when it goes into a shelter? Can shelters just be used as some sort of cost-free boarding facility?

It sounds like they weren't allowed to by the executor of the estate.

 

[Imzadi]

“We did suggest they could sign the dog over on numerous occasions, because it’s a dog we could easily find a home for and re-home,” said Carrie Jones, manager of Chesterfield Animal Services. “Ultimately, they came back in on March 22nd and redeemed the dog.”

So where were all these people who would have re-homed the dog? The shelter had the dog for two weeks to find new owners.

 

[MrsDuck]

Really wrong.

 

[Moliphino]

So where were all these people who would have re-homed the dog? The shelter had the dog for two weeks to find new owners.

They couldn't because the executor wouldn't sign the dog over to them.

 

[gwynne]

Exactly what I was wondering. There seems to be details missing. Since when do shelters kennel dogs? Aren't most of them overrun with animals they have to euthanize because more are coming in all the time? And usually 2 weeks is the limit for animals being there before they get euthanized.

I bet it went something like: the dog was slated to be euthanized since it hadn't been adopted out. Even if they knew from the beginning that the estate wanted the dog to be euthanized, since they had it, they could have shown the dog to people and then told the estate that they have 3 different people who want the dog. PLEASE give the dog to one of those people. They didn't say or do that.

The estate came, only wanting the remains after the dog had been put down. They found out the shelter won't give euthanized animals to people. That's when they told the shelter what they wanted the remains for. Suddenly, the shelter claimed the dog could be re-homed. It's okay for them to euthanize a dog to make room for incoming ones. But, not to be euthanized to be with the dead owner. The estate took back the dog to be euthanized elsewhere and that's when the shelter made a public stink about it.

The article I posted says the staff tried to talk the executor out of the plan (multiple times) because it was a dog they could easily find a new home for.
It could be that placing the animal in the shelter was a temporary legal choice in this specific situation. The executor was working on quite a plan. They probably wanted to dot their i's, cross their t's...so that the executor would not be "responsible" for the death. So, they temporarily placed the dog, without signing her over.

The shelter may have thought that it might be possible to talk the executor out of their determination to see the dog die and bury it with the "owner".

 

[Imzadi]

They couldn't because the executor wouldn't sign the dog over to them.

The shelter had the dog on their premises. They could have shown the dog, even though a gate, pointed and said, "This dog is being housed here. WE would like to tell the executor of the estate that we have people interested in adopting this dog, in the hopes of changing their mind and letting the dog be adopted. Are you interested? You'd be the first/second/third one we'll call if they let the dog be adopted." Words. That's all it took. But, they didn't seem to have people lined up, IN CASE. Or to try to persuade the executor, with an actual number of hopeful people.

 

[Imzadi]

The article I posted says the staff tried to talk the executor out of the plan (multiple times) because it was a dog they could easily find a new home for.
It could be that placing the animal in the shelter was a temporary legal choice in this specific situation. The executor was working on quite a plan. They probably wanted to dot their i's, cross their t's...so that the executor would not be "responsible" for the death. So, they temporarily placed the dog, without signing her over.

The shelter may have thought that it might be possible to talk the executor out of their determination to see the dog die and bury it with the "owner".

Since when are shelters kennels? Kennels are for temporarily housing animals.The funds to do that come out of the estate.

I still say something is off with this story. It's not just on the side of the executor.

 

[gwynne]

The shelter had the dog on their premises. They could have shown the dog, even though a gate, pointed and said, "This dog is being housed here. WE would like to tell the executor of the estate that we have people interested in adopting this dog, in the hopes of changing their mind and letting the dog be adopted. Are you interested? You'd be the first/second/third one we'll call if they let the dog be adopted." Words. That's all it took. But, they didn't seem to have people lined up, IN CASE. Or to try to persuade the executor, with an actual number of hopeful people.

I think the executor was working hard to find someone who would willingly kill the dog, "legally". Sadly, that was their only goal.
JMO- I think the shelter was trying to operate in reasonable faith, attempting to find some middle ground where they could place the dog with new owners.
I feel badly for the shelter folks. I also am so sorry for the dog. How any vet would hop onboard with this plan is beyond me.
And the executor? There are no words.