Back-up Plans For Your Dogs

[Kadbury]

This topic has me crying and also thinking. ATM I have a Cat and a Quaker Parrot so I think that the Children would take them in. I will be asking the question and making sure that it is Clearly understood what my wishes would be. Come to think of it I have not discussed what I would like to happen to me when my time comes, it is a bit raw with the children as my Husband passed away 3 years ago and the Children were only 20,22 and 24 at the time. Time to have a sit down I think and let my wishes be Set In Stone.

[Guest donatella]

My mum definitely. But mainly because I come with the dog and the dog comes with me, we are like a package, so mum would want her to remember me by as she is my little side kick. She wouldn't do well with strangers and she knows mum. Failing that my flatmate as they are close also. I'm confident she wouldn't end up in the pound.

[ash1]

If it's just me that shuffles off this mortal coil, then the hubster will just suck it up and look after everyone. I've told him he can have my share of the house even if he remarries, as long as the dogs/pigs/cats get to stay too and in the fashion to which they are indulgently accustomed. If they don't then I will be -literally- hubby's and new wife's worst nightmare from beyond the grave. :laugh:

If he can't manage them all without me (I do the lion's share of the work, as he works full time and I don't) then I want all the older ones PTS. I too, couldn't bear the thought of them going to the wrong home. I would rather they peacefully drifted off to oblivion than suffered fear and abuse. I would also rather they were PTS than had to live the rest of their lives in a kennel (we're talking about animals who sleep on the bed and sit on the couch with us to watch TV - a kennel would be a fate worse than death for them).

None of our pets bar two dogs (out of six) and the pigs are under eight years old, the oldest ones around 11-12. Depending on how old they were, the pups may be rehomed but only to a friend or family that he can "keep an eye on" and with the promise they are to come back to him if there is any issues.

Should we both croak at the same time, my mother will take my two littlies (chi and pom) and send everyone else to heaven. Unfortunately I have no kids (and never will), so can't will them my animals. I do have a neice who I would trust with any animal, but as she is only 12, I would have to put croaking on hold until she was old enough to take them on.

My bestie has willed her dog to me should anything happen to her. She actually went to a solicitor and had it written in - she is one of seven, but it's me she wants her dog to come to.

[soothie]

No-one in my family or my friends are dedicated dog lovers as I am so my plan is to make a sizeable donation in my will to Victorian Animal Aid Trust and ask them to look after my dogs and find a good home for them.

My dogs all came to me through sad circumstances where they lost their previous owners and are happy, healthy and much loved so I trust that the next person(s) will do the same :)

[Atanquin]

My OH or my mum would take zorro of anything happens, and if they couldn't my freinds would be lining up at the door to take him as they all find him adorable LOL.

My horses would go to my freind to rehome for me as she is the only one I would trust to find them goo homes :)

[Jed]

If I am critically ill or injured, or die, I have instructions in my will, and given to family and friends, so a lot of people know that all my animals are to be euthed.

If I am ill and recover, and the animals are dead, I will console myself that at least they didn't suffer

[dasha]

No idea,

My family is not animal interested do it could be interesting for them to home 7 dogs and 3 horses and 2 cats and some birds.

I think if something would happen to me now, the 2 older kelpies would stay at home with mum and dad. They are easy and just need a bit of food and some pats a day.

My brothers aren't interested in have Border Collies in the suburbs so I think that One of my bitches and her pup could get sold to another sheep dog trialling person, they are always keen to buy them when I have them at trials.

The other bitch and her 2 pups would be harder as they are higher drive and would drive people crazy unless they are in a working/sport home. I would like to think that friends would step in and take them and find homes for them as appropriate as I am sure they would.

Cats could stay. Folks would prob ask the neighbours about how to go about selling the horses.

[LizT]

Wow......after reading Steves post I think the moral of the story is to have your wishes clear and defined. I couldn't imagine my kids, OH, family or friends even thinking about getting rid of my dogs, cats, horses to make my life easier.

That said though I do recall my father saying I should "get rid" of my horse when I was pregnant for my first child, you know to make things easier for me. Hmmmfffph.

[RiverStar-Aura]

As I get closer to 30 I've been thinking more and more about having a will written up, just for peace of mind as we can never be sure what the universe has planned for us.

I'd love to think that my mum and brothers would continue looking after Zeus (2 years 9 months) and Kirah (11 months tomorrow), however, I have let my very good friends know that if the family won't keep them both they are to find suitable homes or have them PTS.

This is actually something I need to discuss with the family because I really worry about my dogs in this way.

[megan_]

Steve you raise a good point - have people made arrangements if they are sick long term? Do people have clear, written down instructions explaining what to do?

[LizT]

As I get closer to 30 I've been thinking more and more about having a will written up, just for peace of mind as we can never be sure what the universe has planned for us.

I'd love to think that my mum and brothers would continue looking after Zeus (2 years 9 months) and Kirah (11 months tomorrow), however, I have let my very good friends know that if the family won't keep them both they are to find suitable homes or have them PTS.

This is actually something I need to discuss with the family because I really worry about my dogs in this way.

My brother passed away at age 39 and even though my sister was certain he had a will, none could be found. The majority of his quite substantial assets went to my parents and made life a little easier for them, which he would have liked :) , but a huge chunk went to the government because he had no will, which I'm sure he would not have liked at all.

[grizabella]

If I were to suddenly pass away, Bella would return to her breeder, as she is on a co-ownership. We live with my mum at the moment, but though she loves Bella, she's not really interested in being responsible for an energetic young Saluki!

[westiemum]

Thanks everyone for your replies - hard though it is, I think it's a topic we all should think about and regardless of what and how we do it our wishes need to be very clear. My mother is very clear, that should anything happen to me the westies are to go to their god- parents - who Mac came from originally - they were his foster parents when he first came out of the puppy farm . And I have made financial provision for their care through my will. If I was ill long term the same arrangements apply if my mother isn't around to help out.

And hopefully none of us never need to activate such plans.

Edited April 1, 2012 by westiemum

[bianca.a]

This is a good thought provoking thread, DH had an accident 3 years ago which has left me his full-time carer but I've not thought of what happens if something happens to me. He was in hospital for months so I guess it's not just death you need to think of.

My DH is not physically capable of looking after my 2 GSD's so Cooper would go back to his breeder and Molly and the cats would go to my parents.

I have never thought about what would happen if my parents were no longer here so I guess when DH and I do our wills in the next few weeks, I had better make some decisions.

[MishB]

Ive not even given this any thought until I read this thread!

Im going to put some kind of plan in place for my fur babys if anything were to happen to both me & hubby.

[westiemum]

My mum will be taking Justice as they absolutely adore each other and he would have company pretty much 24/7. She's not strong or fit enough to walk him for as long as he needs so we've agreed that she'll receive my super payout and use it to pay someone to walk him for an hour a day and anything else he needs for the rest of his life.

Snook this is another good idea - to make your dogs carer a beneficiary of your super. I think I'll investigate this further as another option. Thanks for the idea :)

Edited April 2, 2012 by westiemum

[westiemum]

Couple of years ago I had a drama in my life and until then I was pretty confident that my dogs would be O.K. as Ive got 8 kids - wrong.

During this rough spot they decided they would "help" me and felt living where I di that I should sell up and move closer to them.

So I said but what of my dogs? I couldnt take working Maremma into a town situation and my beagles would hate small spaces etc.

"well come on Mum - seriously you simply either have to bump them off or find new homes for them"

This absolutely blew me out - these brats have grown up with me and if anyone in the world should know what these animals mean to me and how much they are a part of my life they should.

So as Im such a nice lady and wonderful Mum I nicely explained that the majority of my life to now has been about making my environment perfect for dogs and people to live in harmony and not having these animals in my life was not something Im interested in contemplating. "Well clearly Mum you are not thinking straight - you would be better off in town.

I told them what I thought of that idea but it sure did made me start to think about planning for if ever I was flattened and couldnt yell about what others felt was "good" for me

We then had Bridgett who had a heart attack and while she was flat out and almost dead her "friends" decided it was best for her if they got rid of her dogs for her before she came home as she would be too ill to look after her two GSD .I went in with boots on and said no way - even the church was pushing like mad for this to happen and the poor local priest was seen to quickly cross the street when he saw me coming .I won but only because I was in her will and had living power of attorney - I actually had guardianship and custody of her grandchildren who she lives with while she was i hospital - so her two dogs were there waiting for her when she got home but I had to fight to get them to back off.

Bugger me she had a second episode and they moved in again so I had to really fight to get them to back off.

Then an elderly lady who was in hospital with a broken leg - we got a call from her neighbour wanting us to simply pick the dog up and take it to the pound! they were convinced she could look after it with a broken leg. Her son came home for the first time in 3 years and also wanted the dog to go .When we spoke with the lady she went nuts about them wanting to get rid of her dog - it had been her only constant companion for 2 and half years.

So we had to work and negotiate with her son to get him to give in and not dump the dog before his Mum came home from hospital.

We paid for boarding and training and had someone in walking the dog daily while Mum was healing.

then of course Gary who was run over and his friends wanted the dog sent to the pound because they believed he would never be well enough to look after the dog.

that dog was fostered and went to visit him in hospital and after 10 months after sleep overs etc the dog went back home with him.

the moral to my stories is don't assume anything people who love you and who don't necessarily understand your bond with your dogs are capable of making decisions which are not real bright under the heading of what is best for you.

Ive put things in place with Pacers to supervise and make sure it happens if I drop dead or become ill etc because I don't trust anyone to do what I want when Im not around to yell at them .Experience tells me people can promise to do something in good faith today but if their lives change my dogs wont be their priority.

Good post Steve - and yes it's easy to assume relatives or friends will make good decisions for your dogs if you can't. Im absolutely confident that the westies god parents will be fine as we've discussed it in detail and I've made financial provision for their care. But I'm sure there are people who are not fortunate enough to have such reliable back-up. I know only a little about Pacers having only been a little involved once (I still have a clean but leaky old empty garage BTW!) - but I wondered if this was a service Pacers could formally offer, say through a small monthly subscription service or something similar... No idea how or if it would work so just a thought. :)

Edited April 2, 2012 by westiemum

[Meea]

Westiemum

Pacers have a formal bequest structure. My soliciter is having a look at it now for me.

Meea

[westiemum]

Thanks Snook - thats a really well though out plan. Difficult topic though it is, I think its really important - and might save some poor decision-making around the future of dogs who suddenly find themselves homeless and possibly put less pressure on rescue services if people put good plans in place (and that includes euth where that's the preferred option). After all most rescues have enough lives to save without those that could be avoided with some solid planning. I always feel so sad to see the animals of elderly people who have died or gone into care suddenly homeless and impounded. If only plans and provision had been made for them, I think it often could have been avoided.

Yes my westies God-Parents were willing to take them on without financial support too but I insisted. I feel its unreasonable to ask them to do this without it. :)

ETA You know its funny... I really couldnt care less about the house or my car on my demise - but the westies... they must must must be provided for. :)

Edited April 3, 2012 by westiemum