Dog cremated after owners death.

[disney junky]

I love animals. And I think her wishes were silly, but they were her wishes. I don't have any strong feelings beyond that.

 

[Mermaid02]

How selfish.

 

[maddiel]

If the dog was initially left alone when the owner died, perhaps the police took the dog to the shelter while they were waiting to contact next of kin?

Sometimes our local shelter keeps pets who are in legal limbo until the matter can be sorted out. Those dogs can't be adopted out until the legal issues are settled and the original owner loses custody and runs out of appeals. There was one case that went on for years and got a lot of press - the owner had been ticketed for not properly restraining the dog on a couple of occasions and finally the dog was removed from the owner; the dog was kept at the shelter while she appealed it over and over.

M.

 

[kidshop]

Someone who would insist their pet die when they die, does not love that pet. The ultimate act of narcissism and selfishness.

 

[Imzadi]

If the dog was initially left alone when the owner died, perhaps the police took the dog to the shelter while they were waiting to contact next of kin?

Sometimes our local shelter keeps pets who are in legal limbo until the matter can be sorted out. Those dogs can't be adopted out until the legal issues are settled and the original owner loses custody and runs out of appeals. There was one case that went on for years and got a lot of press - the owner had been ticketed for not properly restraining the dog on a couple of occasions and finally the dog was removed from the owner; the dog was kept at the shelter while she appealed it over and over.

M.

That's an explanation that makes sense as to why the dog would be at the shelter instead of a kennel. It could also explain why the woman's burial was 2 weeks after she died. Perhaps, if it was an unattended death, they needed to autopsy her. Or her will had to be found or sorted out, in order to know what her final arrangements were. And the dog stayed there in limbo all that time.

 

[firefly_ris]

If the dog was initially left alone when the owner died, perhaps the police took the dog to the shelter while they were waiting to contact next of kin?

Sometimes our local shelter keeps pets who are in legal limbo until the matter can be sorted out. Those dogs can't be adopted out until the legal issues are settled and the original owner loses custody and runs out of appeals. There was one case that went on for years and got a lot of press - the owner had been ticketed for not properly restraining the dog on a couple of occasions and finally the dog was removed from the owner; the dog was kept at the shelter while she appealed it over and over.

M.

This. It also happens with dogs who are in homes where drug raids occur, or a dog that is doing a 14 day rabies quarantine, etc. There are a few situations like these where a city or municipal shelter has to hold the dog until certain legal issues are worked out. The dog is typically not on the adoption floor.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I seriously hated reading about that. I love my cat so so much but I would never ever kill him so he could be buried with me.

There are always the "what if's" out there regarding what happens to the pet once the owner has passed. What shouldn't IMO happen and what I would never do is kill my pet so they can be buried with me.

But this isn't new. In other cultures it's happened for thousands and thousands of years. I just don't happen to agree with it on a personal level.

 

[wenrob]

I don’t agree with putting a healthy dog down so that it can “rest” with it’s owner. It’s not something I would do. However, realistically if there was no one to take the dog odds are high that would have been its fate in the end. I also think the executor was put in a difficult situation. If I’ve learned nothing else from the years of my dad being ill it’s that people will go out of their way to extract near impossible promises and once those promises are made the ones who made them are very reluctant to break them.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

However, realistically if there was no one to take the dog odds are high that would have been its fate in the end.

I kinda think that depends on where you live. I don't think the odds are high because I see plenty of times where the local shelters here call out for assistance on an animal now left once an owner has passed. There's many resources available to help rehome that animal (couldn't tell you how many times I see posts on Nextdoor or Facebook regarding this). It's just some places you'll have much better opportunities out there.

I think there's a difference in thinking the dog is just left to roam the streets (which could happen if no one is aware the owner has passed and it's been a decent amount of time with no one checking on the residence of the owner) where the dog may have a much higher chance of being hit by a car or die unfortunately some other way and a situation like being discussed.

 

[wenrob]

I kinda think that depends on where you live. I don't think the odds are high because I see plenty of times where the local shelters here call out for assistance on an animal now left once an owner has passed. There's many resources available to help rehome that animal (couldn't tell you how many times I see posts on Nextdoor or Facebook regarding this). It's just some places you'll have much better opportunities out there.

I think there's a difference in thinking the dog is just left to roam the streets (which could happen if no one is aware the owner has passed and it's been a decent amount of time with no one checking on the residence of the owner) where the dog may have a much higher chance of being hit by a car or die unfortunately some other way and a situation like being discussed.

I think it depends on a lot of things. How old the dog is, it’s temperament etc. Unfortunately there are more animals than there are prospective owners. A lot of times there’s no room for a shelter to take an animal in no matter the circumstances. Like I said I don’t agree with it but I also feel like that would have most likely been it’s fate had it gone to shelter.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

I think it depends on a lot of things. How old the dog is, it’s temperament etc. Unfortunately there are more animals than there are prospective owners. A lot of times there’s no room for a shelter to take an animal in no matter the circumstances. Like I said I don’t agree with it but I also feel like that would have most likely been it’s fate had it gone to shelter.

True true. I think I just don't agree that it would have been most likely or the odds are high. That's more the part I don't personally agree with but of course it's just an opinion

 

[Pea-n-Me]

True true. I think I just don't agree that it would have been most likely or the odds are high. That's more the part I don't personally agree with but of course it's just an opinion

I agree. But I think some of it may be depending on where you live. We take a lot of dogs from all over here in the northeast because we seem to be able for the most part to find them homes.

I also think if, say, word got out or there was a local news story about it, the likelihood would increase that the dog would find a home because people are sympathetic - maybe their aunt was in such a situation or something. I know not too long ago I saw a dog at a shelter whose family was displaced by a fire. I wasn’t in a position to adopt the dog, but I wrote in immediately and offered to foster it just because I understood how hard it must’ve been for that family.

 

[Pea-n-Me]

I’m actually surprised the dog didn’t somehow “disappear”.

 

[Imzadi]

I think it depends on a lot of things. How old the dog is, it’s temperament etc. Unfortunately there are more animals than there are prospective owners. A lot of times there’s no room for a shelter to take an animal in no matter the circumstances. Like I said I don’t agree with it but I also feel like that would have most likely been it’s fate had it gone to shelter.

Yes, I'm wondering how old the dog is. If it's very old, it's chances of being re-homed are lessened. Even if it dies a couple years later, the new owner may not take the dogs remains and bury it in a loving place. The original owner may have thought how the poor pooch may end up sitting in a shelter for two weeks after her death, scared, lonely, wondering where it's human is, and then being put down as no one adopts it, and the ashes going where ever the ashes go when people don't collect their pet's remains. It's probably some mass landfill area.

She may have preferred that her dog's ashes be with her. I would have preferred that she had made the statement, "If my dog is unable to be re-homed and will be euthanized, then have it's ashes buried with me." Her lawyer obviously didn't check to see if her request to have the remains buried with her was even legal. Where are the ashes now?

 

[Imzadi]

I’m actually surprised the dog didn’t somehow “disappear”.

I think it would depend on when the shelter manager was told what what would actually happen to the dog. The first time the executor came to see the dog, it may have been when, as a PP thought, the dog had been brought in by the police. The executor may not have known the official will request yet. He may have just come to check that the dog is there. He may have said the owner had died and he'd come back for the dog at a later date once he figures out what he's supposed to do with the dog. That's when they could have called many times saying the dog could be adopted out.

When he finally came to pick up the dog, that's when he may have told them he wants them to euthanize it and why. That's when they said, "Whoa! So not doing THAT!" Otherwise, why would they wait the 2 weeks, after the dog had been euthanized elsewhere, before contacting the media? They could have done that while the dog was waiting in limbo. As you said, a local news story before the dog was put down, would have put pressure on the executor. And the legalities against being buried with the owner would have been found out sooner. So the dog wouldn't have needed to be put down at all.

It's interesting that the shelter knew the dog had been put down by some vet who agreed to do it. How did they get that info?

 

[MomOfDisneyPrincess]

This would have made so much more sense if she asked that this be done upon the natural death of the animal and the ashes sprinkled or buried in her plot. I agree this was selfish and unnatural.

 

[WDWBarb]

I would agreed to send Emma to a happier place. Then I would have taken her home and brought back a bag of ashes from the firepit out back.

 

[a1tinkfans]

Sad. Her wishes were carried out... the person who went to claim that dog, then kill that pup.. Eek, what a position to begin.
Sad