If you’re not in the mood to sob hysterically, I would suggest you stop reading here.
Twitter user @jessi_dietrich is an animal lover who recently posted something on her account regarding a question she’d asked her vet, then detailed the doctor’s gut-wrenching answer.
On July 26th she wrote, “Asked my vet what the hardest part was about his job &he said when he has to put an animal down 90% of owners don’t actually want to be in the room when he injects them so the animal’s last moments are usually them frantically looking around for their owners & tbh that broke me.”
The vet had compared it to when you need your best friend the most, but they’re not there. I’m sure it’s a frantic feeling that we’ve all had at least once in our lives, and it’s so hard not to relate. I’ve literally got tears in my eyes writing this.
Since she tweeted this very, very upsetting fact, her post has been liked more than 140,000 times, has been retweeted 41,000 times, and has amassed hundreds of comments.
Most of the comments came from other pet owners who’ve stayed with their dying pets when they’ve been euthanized. There were many who remarked on how difficult their choices were. But almost unanimously all the animal lovers agreed that they just wanted to give their pets love and peace in their last moments.
Naturally, there were many others who responded with disdain that pet parents would actually leave their furry friends alone in their biggest moment of need.
After the popularity of her tweet began to show, the OP responded to her many commentators who’d commented how sad they felt after seeing her tweet.
“Didn’t mean to break everyone’s hearts just wanted to raise awareness!!!!! I’m so sorry :/,” she apologized.
It seems as though she did accomplish her goal of raising awareness. Not long after her tweet went viral, a New Zealand-based animal hospital posted a very similar message entitled from a “tired broken-hearted vet” on its Facebook page.
The post from Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital read, “They search every face in the room for their loved person. They don’t understand why you left them when they are sick, scared, old or dying from cancer and they need your comfort,” and proceeds to call out those who don’t stay with their pets as cowards.
Of course, this post received some negative attention for its use of strong language, however, most of the other responses to it were pretty positive as many pet owners agreed that it’s important to stay by the side of your dying pet.
Just like the other tweet, the Hillcrest Veterinary Hospital’s post amassed 128,000 shares and 24,000 likes.
I for one, definitely fall on the side of pets are family, and you stay with family until the bitter end. But, regardless of where you may fall on this debate, now would be a great time to go hug your beloved furbaby.
