Give the gift of hospice to more pets and their people
If you believe in Quality of Life until the End of Life for you and your pet, please consider donating to the Animal Hospice Group.

By Gail Pope
Animal Hospice Group Co-founder

Dame Saunders’ quote illustrates why palliative care and hospice care are so important to end-of-life care for all beings). Growing up in England, I learned that hospice is a place where people go to die and also that hospice care is given to someone who is dying. The only people who could help me understand anything deeper than that were my mum and dad and they NEVER talked about hospice or death, other than in hushed terms, and for the most part, avoided both subjects like the plague.

Fast forward to the early days of BrightHaven, when I cared holistically for many senior and chronically ill animals. Of course, they died – most of them naturally, in peace, and with dignity. The road to the end of life was joyful and without fear. In fact, we concentrated on living and not dying. To me, this had nothing to do with hospice care as hospice was all about death.

Finally, the experience of my Mother’s hospice care in my own home taught me how close the worlds of human and animal hospice care are, and instilled in me the burning desire to help people to trust in hospice care and its path through the last chapter of life to help their animals live joyously and fully to their last breath.

Since our inception, Animal Hospice Group’s approach to hospice care has been aligned with hospice care for humans. Love, comfort, dignity, and quality of life are of the highest importance, and the spiritual aspect of the journey is deeply honored. We strive to not hasten or postpone death, but to work within the bounds of nature and the best medical care.

What follows are more tenets of hospice care, and what Animal Hospice Group has adopted as our guiding principles:

• Hospice is about love, joy, and devotion
• Hospice is a special philosophy of care designed to provide comfort, support, and dignity to those dying and to their families during a life-limiting illness
• The goal of hospice care is to enhance the quality of living while dying
• Hospice care can prolong life but does not hasten death
• Hospice embraces an integrative approach to care
• The hospice team comprises specially trained professionals, volunteers, and family members
• Hospice addresses all symptoms of a disease, with a special emphasis on controlling pain or discomfort
• Hospice addresses the daily emotional and spiritual needs of both the dying and their families
• Hospice offers a variety of bereavement and counseling services to families before and after death

It is a true statement that if we are not dead, then we are actually ALIVE. The goal of hospice is to care for the being throughout the entire journey of living.

Animal Hospice Group’s guiding principles teach our students to help animals live each day to the fullest until they die. Who doesn’t want that? 

We have come a long way this year…

Enrollment for the Animal Hospice Certification opened in 2021, and this past year we proudly graduated our first class of Certified Animal Hospice Practitioners, a cohort of allied animal and family providers, veterinary professionals, and home caregivers who are fully prepared to instill these principles into their personal and professional practices.

But we have further to go next year…

In 2023, these CAHPs and other interns will become Advisors on the Animal Hospice Helpline to guide caregivers and professionals end-of-life care for animals through practicing these principles, all at no-cost and low-cost.

We need your help to meet our goal of launching the Animal Hospice Helpline in 2023. Please consider donating in our Giving Tree End-of-Year fundraising. Every little bit makes a difference in the lives of animal lovers and the pets under their care.  

Give today at: https://www.animalhospicegroup.com/ahg-giving-tree

With my love and blessings,

Gail Pope
Animal Hospice Group, Co-founder & Instructor/Lecturer
President & Founder of BrightHaven

With my fellow Animal Hospice Group Co-founders:
Dr. Amir Shanan, DVM, CHPV
Dr. Kathryn Marocchino, PhD
Michelle Nichols, MS

Please show us all that you like this article by sharing, commenting, and/or giving this a "LIKE" on Facebook. Photo in post (header): Give the Gift of Hospice to More Pets and their People, Animal Hospice Group Giving Tree - See what it is all about! The Animal Hospice Group in affiliation with BrightHaven Inc., a CA 501[c]3 Corporation.