Old horse

[Brinjal]

I am i the sad situation of having to make the decision to put my old horse to sleep. He was a wonderful family horse, my 3 children rode him and won heaps of ribbons and trophies on him. He is 26 and has had a dicky ticker for acouple of years now but recently has started falling over and struggling to get up. The vet has advised that it is his time now so I have made the decision but am wondering what to do with his remains. My idea was to call the animal sanctuary and donate his remains to feed the big cats but my children arent too keen on that idea. They want to bury him but will take a big hole. Anyone had to deal with this type of problem

[notasyoungasiwas]

Just me then, but there is NO WAY I would feed my beloved pet to the lions. I don't care how big a hole, burial would be the option if cremation was not.

[andy-hughes]

I have had pets die, as many of us have, and I accept that when they are gone, it is merely their body that is left, and I have had no problems with disposal by the vets - never owned a horse so i can see this is not that simple.

I would however donate his body to the sanctuary - he is no longer in it, and it will do some good for animals still living, which is nature's way.

Which ever choice you make must be the one you can live with - good luck with it.

[rsvp]

Hamba kahle Billy

[wolf63]

My mum died in 1996 and I have never been to her grave - there is no point as she isn't there. My dad's ashes are in Loch Earn - in a lovely part of the world.

I, personally, think that Brinjal's friend Billy died after a good life and only the memory of him is important. The big cats are grateful. It beats being dissected by creepy crawlies in the ground.

We are all born and we all die - it is the circle of life.

[Euphemia]

Billy is now at peace. Remember all the happy times you had with him.

[lankeela]

My friend who died last week arranged to have her two old rescued horses put down before she died. The vet came out and she had requested they be injected rather than shot. The people who had to deal with it as she could not be there due to her illness said it was the worst thing they have ever witnessed, taking two hours for the whole process waiting for sedatives to take effect and then the actual injection. The humane bolt gun is virtually instantaneous and they would have known nothing about what was going on. She also wanted them buried but they couldn't be as the field is too near a water course, so they were taken away by the local hunt but seeing them being winched onto the lorry only added to the trauma. Sadly it is all part of owning an animal, and when my old horse (34) had gone down in his stable and didn't try to get up we had the local knacker man come and put him down where he lay. We had twice before had to have the fire brigade out to lift him when he had gone down in the field but this time he didn't even try to get up, so we knew he had decided it was time to go. Remember him with a smile, he has served you well for so many years.

[Brinjal]

I did stay with Billy while it happened. It was instantaneous. He went down on to his knees then just slid onto his side and was as if he had just gone down for a rest. Hamba kahle fambai zvakanaka Billy