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Local care facility not a hospice

A hospice patient has six months or less to live.

Re: Hope ponders pet hospice (Oct. 19)

More than anything I take exception in this article using the term “hospice.”  According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, a hospice patient has six months or less to live.

Speaking for our group, Healing Heart Pet Hospice, a non-profit program that delivers veterinary hospice care in the homes of pet families, I can’t think of many, or should I say any, of our patients that would be at a place in their care with us that they would be “running at large, destroying landscaping, defecating and spraying on neighbouring properties!”

Our patients are nearing end of life and we are assisting their loving families in helping them die peacefully and pain free.

So, without making this letter a clarification on the tenets of hospice care, I would ask that this not be termed “hospice” –  shelter, sanctuary, call it by another name except hospice, please.

Valarie Hajek Adams

President, Healing Heart Foundation, Inc.

Director, Healing Heart Pet Hospice