Posted on 01/25/2009 11:32:42 AM PST by Graybeard58
When Anna Ruth Jones died in Durham, N.C., last week, her obituary listed a handful of cousins and special friends. But the most prominent survivor, the only one described as "cherished," was Sir Rufus of Iredell, her black and white cat.
The feline's elevation to grieving relative represents a new step for household pets across the country — special mentions in notice of their owners' passing.
On a single day last week, dogs and cats merited a spot in five the North Carolina News & Observer's obituaries — more than a quarter of that day's total. Buzzy the canine pal. Beloved dog Sport. Simba. Trixie. Mikey. And Sir Rufus.
"That was her child," said Jones' neighbor Perry Norris, describing the cat's royal air. "He was a tuxedo type."
Regard for pets has steadily grown to the point where some enjoy health insurance benefits. Lawyers now build careers around defending furry clients. And books can be bought explaining how to name a pet executor, along with instructions for obtaining a pet's living will.
New York hotel maven Leona Helmsley famously left $12 million to her Maltese, Trouble. In North Carolina, High Point publisher Randall B. Terry bequeathed an estimated $1 million to the care of his six golden retrievers.
For Deborah Bowen, a social work professor at UNC-Wilmington, mention in obits is a natural shift. As society has become isolated by computers, cable television, job transfers and 50-hour work weeks, pets fill a void too wide for busy humans, said Bowen, author of "A Good Friend for Bad Times: Helping Others Through Grief."
Look at the way medicine for animals has changed, she argued. Families routinely pay vet bills that top $1,000, getting treatment once reserved for humans.
It's natural, she said, that the same regard would extend to death — regardless of who's in the casket.
"If the pet survives you, you put the pet in the obit," Bowen said. "There is that sense of loss for animals, and there is an adjustment. Dogs will grieve the loss of another dog in the house so much that they won't eat."
Jones, a Durham, N.C., nurse who died Jan. 6, had little family other than Sir Rufus. Finding a new home for him has been tough, her neighbor said, because the animal won't tolerate a household where he isn't top cat and can monopolize attention.
Sometimes, an animal wins top billing. In New Hampshire, the former copy desk chief of the Portsmouth Herald sometimes saw cats and dogs listed by elderly women. But once, a few years back, he ran across a cancer victim who listed — in an obituary he penned himself — a pig as his first survivor.
"It threw us for a loop," wrote Mike Sullivan, who has moved on to public relations and cannot recall the pig's name. "It went down as one of the most bizarre obits I'd ever edited and published."
But when Dorothy Strickland Johnson of Knightdale, N.C., died Jan. 7, her five pets made the obituary alongside her daughter, son, and husband of 64 years.
Luke, a Llasa apso, was adopted when the Johnsons dealt with the pain of another daughter's death. For a couple in their 80s, Luke provided a reason to push on and to remember.
"So now," said Susan Johnson, their daughter, "my Dad and Luke will be going on their journey without my Mom."
As she spoke, you could hear Luke barking in the background — a fellow relative speaking his piece.
I wonder if it’s a reaction to low fertility rates among certain classes of people?
Now, those are TWO happy dogs - with their lovely mom! Thank you for sharing, Gorush!
My cats think I’m awesome.
Everyone else thinks I’m an a***ole.
Some of the best people I’ve known are animals. If I’m honest with myself, my animal friends are the only children I have. I would certainly want them to have the best if I were to pass unexpectedly.
My cats think I’m an a***ole.
Everyone else does too.
Well huh. I figger I’m so ornery, my critters may be my only mourners.
Maybe I should give all future pets apparently human names, so as to fill out a full slate of grieving loved ones, LOL.
Just don't try that on your form 1040.
paganism.......placing animals superior to mankind......
Thank you for the Ping, Dolly, and the Post Graybeard58. I Understand the Feelings in the Article; our Pets are So Much More than Pets; they are our Good Friends and Family, Precious and Beloved. If my Sweet Doggie was to Outlive me, I would Want her to Go to a Wonderful and Loving Home, if my Husband couldn’t Care of her. He would Make Sure she was Provided for, so I’m Thankful for that.
When I die, two of my cats will mourn me. The third will want to know why the h*ll dinner’s late.
We adopted out “newest” dog through petfinder. It’s a wonderful service.
PING
Sir Rufus of Iredell...that’s such a name! Princess Bella is quite envious. For a kitty who was adopted from a kill shelter on her “last day”, she does put on airs...as I type, she is sitting, tail wrapped daintily over paws on the table in the breakfast room, watching the geese through the sliding glass door as the sun rises. Head held high, ears perked. I wish the darn geese would go home...I thought they were neat at first...watching the v’s fly over head was nice...but they do it day and night...and their poop!!!! OH MY it’s nearly as big as my golden retriever’s poop!!! Only slimy like bird poo. And the Golden? Yes...the dumbest dog on earth...he’s afraid of the geese...the fearless bird dog crouches on his belly and barks when the V’s fly over and he sees them. Did your ducks do something to abuse my pooch when he was visiting?
oh yeah...the topic was pets after the loss of their owners...well...I don’t think I’d have Rum and Belle mentioned in an obit. But...they are both in our wills. Princess Bella is happy to announce that her name is first. Rummy wants to know if Will, whomever he is, has a cookie.
It’s stories like this that confirm my suspicions that pet owners are emotional cripples unable to tolerate their own company. So they get a pet and promptly begin to anthropomorphize it, attributing to it human qualities that exist in no animal. And when people post things like “I’ll kill anyone that messes with one of pets,” it shows how deranged pet owners are. Is there anyting more pathetic that seeing an adult making “baby talk” to a dog or cat. It turns my stomach. And you see humans following their pets around in the park, actually picking up the pet’s feces. That, my friends, is a sad commentary...when a human willingly cleans up the feces of a “pet.” Also, pet owners are irresponsible. They care nothing for how much the barking of their dogs disturbs the neighbors. If I heard on the news tonight that some strange virus had killed every dog and cat on the planet, I would do to sleep with a smile on my face.
People didn’t keep pets to eat them, they kept pets to secure their property, herd their animals and control vermin.
That’s some perspective you have there. Sheesh.
You, ‘my friend’, are one miserable unhappy person.
more animals
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