As dogs live with humans for a long time, they will naturally have deeper feelings. Perhaps we as outsiders cannot understand the relationship between pets and their owners. But when you see pets and people accompanying each other, you may be able to feel the deep relationship between them. Recently, a Pekingese dog named "Niu Niu" raised by Mr. Zhang was deeply troubled by illness. The owner was reluctant to let the Pekingese dog, which he had raised for 11 years, be euthanized. Mr. Zhang looked at Jingba's body paralysis with great pain.
"If you pet me for ten years, I will promise you a lifetime." Every pet owner knows that the most difficult thing to face is the moment of separation from them. The 11-year-old Pekingese puppy "Niuniu" was suffering from cervical spondylosis. Faced with the "death notice" issued by the pet doctor, the owner Mr. Zhang was unwilling to let his dog undergo euthanasia. "Why can't we enjoy hospice care like human beings and spend our last days peacefully?"
The Pekingese who is protecting the owner is paralyzed.
"Niuniu" is a white Pekingese that has been in Mr. Zhang's family for 11 years.
But recently, Mr. Zhang discovered that something was wrong with Niu Niu, and she would fall down from time to time when walking. The daughter was anxious and took Niuniu to the pet hospital.
What Mr. Zhang didn’t expect was that the problem lay in Niuniu’s spine. "The incidence of Niuniu's disease is extremely high among Pekingese dogs. It is said that one dog has seven dogs per person. If calculated according to human age, Niu Niu is already in his twenties. We can only delay the treatment, and there is no way to treat it." When the doctor said that Niu Niu's disease may not be cured, Mr. Zhang's family fell to the bottom of their mood. "Yesterday I went to 4 pet hospitals in one go, wondering if there was any way to cure her."
But based on Niuniu's condition, all the doctors gave her a "death notice." "Almost every doctor said that euthanasia is the best choice for Niu Niu. However, it is really cruel for us to watch the dog leave with our own eyes."
How to let pets die well is a difficult problem
Places such as Baohe Park, Peace Square, and Amber Pond Park have always been gathering places for dog walking in the city. In order to better understand how to let pet dogs "retire in old age", the reporter visited the above places.
On the lawn of Baohe Park, Ms. Huang, who was walking her dog, told reporters that she once had the same troubles as Mr. Zhang, but in the end she euthanized her seriously ill dog. "I have found many pet shops, but none of them have services to take care of elderly dogs."
During the reporter's visit, many dog owners said: "Euthanasia for their dogs is a last resort choice."
Pet hospitals do not take care of elderly and sick dogs.
It is understood that as early as 2010, there was a company in Hefei that specializes in handling "posthumous affairs" for pets. "We can provide services such as pet cremation, ashes storage, and pet memorial services, but we do not offer pet hospice care." A staff member of a pet hospice service company told reporters, "Most pet hospitals do not have this service."
On August 25, the reporter came to a pet shop in Yilijing. When talking about whether they can take care of elderly and sick dogs for a long time, the shop owner said: "We don't provide such services here. Medical treatment should be a service item of a pet hospital." Afterwards, the reporter called many pet stores in Hefei, but the replies they received were: "There is no hospice care program to care for elderly and sick dogs."
During the reporter's visit, a pet doctor who did not want to be named told the reporter that his personal position was not to support the euthanasia of pets. "I always feel that we do not have the right to announce the time of death on behalf of another life. All lives are equal. Rather than passively accepting death, pets should prefer to leave in the arms of their owners."