The Piper Hospice Program of Renee’s Rescues

All dogs are worthy of love and compassion until their final breath.

Ask any pet parent, and they will agree. Losing a pet is one of the most painful experiences you will endure. Sometimes our pets lose us. It may be due to circumstances beyond our control. Loss of income or our own health deterioration including death. In this revolving process of life, animals are brought to local shelters or signed over to small rescue groups like ours by surviving relatives or animal control. This is a confusing time for a dog of any age. Add some sort of illness into the scenario, and it’s even harder on the animal.

We take most dogs in sight unseen. We have a basic understanding of the dog’s history but nothing in-depth without previous medical records. We tell our veterinarians, “Start from scratch.” During the intake exam at the veterinary office, we often request a bloodwork panel. It is then that we get insight into medical problems. As you can imagine, caring for hospice pets is incredibly costly. “Hospice” begins when our veterinary team confirms that the patient (an RR dog) is terminally ill and anticipated to live less than 12 months. Sometimes our dogs exceed that and we enjoy every moment!

Categorizing an RR dog as hospice is our way of solidifying our commitment to the animal’s physical and emotional needs until the very end. We do not believe in allowing an animal to suffer. When it’s time to cross the Rainbow Bridge, they always tell us.