Plan ahead for your pet

SWAN VALLEY - When Unleashed in the Swan owner Kathy Koors of Condon agreed to help foster two dogs while a married couple from Kalispell recovered from COVID-19, she did not expect to continue caring for them once those owners died from the disease. She and other local animal care workers are now encouraging residents, especially elderly ones, to plan ahead for their mortality specifically regarding their pets.

Koors found out about the fostering opportunity from Flathead Animal Clinic. She and other fosterers took in roughly 10 dogs in total after the owners died this past Thanksgiving and Christmas. According to her, the dogs that the couple typically rescued were older, unwanted or had special needs. Some were even ready to be euthanized. Luckily, she said her two dogs, Snuggles and Tiny, were "quite adoptable" and were given to a couple in Oregon. The other eight were also adopted.

Koors charges $25 a night per animal at Unleashed in the Swan, a free-range boarding facility for animals. While she was taking care of Snuggles and Tiny, she was essentially providing $50 worth of services every day for three months with no payment.

She said with COVID-19 predominantly affecting senior citizens in terms of death rate, many animals are left orphans because their owners did not preemptively decide what should happen to them once they died. She wants pet owners to understand that it is becoming the norm to plan for one's animals in his or her passing by including them in a legal document like a will.

Koors recommends speaking with a lawyer to insert a clause into a will to direct loved ones what to do with an animal. She highly recommends having an in-person conversation with the people selected to take care of the animal to make sure intentions are clear and that no statements were just made in passing.

"I just think during this pandemic, when things calm down, it's a good time for people to get their affairs in order," she said. "Make sure the people that you're assigning the duty to want that responsibility [and] can afford that responsibility. ... [Do] not assume that your son or your daughter or your sister or your neighbor will take them on."

Jeff Darrah, Missoula City-County Animal Control supervisor, agreed with her recommendation.

"My advice is treat your pets as property and clearly state in your will who you want to care for your animal," Darrah wrote in an email. "This should be discussed ahead of time and agreed to, because if not, someone may get a pet that they either can't care for or don't want."

Koors has spent around 15 years working in various veterinary clinics between Seattle, Washington and Montana. While she was working as a receptionist for a veterinary clinic in Seattle, she remembers taking in animals "several times a year" when owners died. She said within the last 20 years veterinarians have become more resistant to euthanizing animals of any age that are healthy. 

"[Many] people think their solution for their dog when they die is for the vet to put them to sleep, because they don't think the animal will be able to live without them. [This] is false," she said. "[Any] vet worth its degree in medicine shouldn't do that. ... Your dog might love you to death but any dog can be placed in a right home. They don't need to die because you're dead. Dogs are going to miss you but they can adapt."

Two of Koors' boarding clients currently have her listed in their wills stating that she would take ownership of their pets should they die. They have also offered financial support. She said when the transfer of ownership comes out of the blue is where problems can arise.

Paws Up Safe Home Animal Shelter Operator Hazel Tyler said over the years the Shelter has taken in around six dogs because either their owner died, could no longer care for them or they specified in their will that the animal was to go to the shelter. Many of these came with the added requirement that the animals were to live with the Tylers and not be adopted. 

While Tyler said this was very generous and they have personally adopted several, this created additional burden for them because that meant they had to now financially support several more animals than they were expecting. 

Tanya Fyfe owned and operated Seeley-Swan Veterinary for six years before closing in 2013. She still maintains the vet's Facebook page however to alert followers of any missing pets she comes across. She also did some volunteer work for Paws Up Safe Home Animal Shelter before their recent closure. She currently works as an associate veterinarian a few times a month for Clark Fork Veterinary Clinic in Deer Lodge.

She, nor any of her associates, have ever personally been placed in someone's will to take care of their pets but she still recommends that people, especially seniors, take formal action towards solidifying a method of transferring pet ownership.

"[Planning for one's pets after his or her death is] certainly always a smart thing to be thinking, particularly when seniors adopt pets," she said. "[For] most pet [owners], when you get a pet, you generally expect to outlive your pet. But as a senior you have to go in and ... know that [the pet is] probably going to outlive [you] if it lives a normal lifespan, especially if you get a young one."

While Fyfe thinks that seniors should be aware of this outcome she believes pets still offer them many benefits.

"I think [pets] are fabulous companions. And they force a lot of older folks to maybe get up and get out more than they usually would, because they've got to go for a walk and they've got to go get pet food," she said. "It gives a lot of folks a sense of responsibility that they might not otherwise have."

Fyfe said she would often have these discussions with her clients at the Seeley clinic to make sure that the entire family is aware of their wishes afterwards. She recommends researching local shelters if someone does not have anyone in their immediate circle that can take care of their animal. According to her, most Montana shelters are no-kill but it is still worth doing the research ahead of time for peace of mind. Pet owners should also communicate their preferred shelter to loved ones so they do not take their pets to a less than desirable facility.

Another entity Fyfe recommends speaking with is one's groomer because their connections with other repeat clients can lead to additional resources.

Koors commends the Humane Society of Western Montana for their work in finding their animals safe homes.

"The Humane Society in Missoula does an awesome job of adopting out and they have great ... staff that get to know the animal, get to know the personality," she said. "They interview prospective adopters and make sure [the animals are] going to a stable home. [The new owners are] not renters or they have written permission from their landlord to take on an animal."