 |
| Christophe and Dennis on horses. They have participated in funerals before and, as we discovered, are partial to an apple or two (but definitely not three). |
On Friday I posed an
ethical question about breed identification and received a range of comments,
mostly from people who didn’t want to post publicly which is fine. It is, like
many animal welfare topics, fairly emotive.
A colleague sent this
video (if it isn't showing on your device, click here). In places where pit bulls are banned it seems shocking to see a “dangerous
breed” in a therapy role – but it certainly provides food for thought for those
consequentialists contemplating the conundrum.
Speaking of pets as therapy, yesterday Phil and I popped over to the Rookwood Cemetery, aka Rookwood Necropolis, the largest Necropolis in the Southern Hemisphere. [There is something about the word Necropolis – its Greek for “city of the dead”, which to me conjures up thoughts of very industrious dead working away at their projects]. Naturally they were selling tea and scones and Phil tried his hardest to perform some quality assurance by taste-testing.
 |
| Tongue...doesn't...quite...reach. |
 |
| The cemetery was actually pretty stunning. |
They had an open day so we got to take a little tour, and we met a remarkable Newfoundland called Mo, who is a trained therapy dog. Not only does Mo visit people in hospitals and nursing homes, he also attends funerals. His owners are funeral directors, hence his personalised Guardian Funerals bib.
 |
| Mo. He's big, he's beautiful, and he brings joy to people he visits in hospitals. |
There is something very
lovely about the idea of a calm dog at a funeral. I think people take great
comfort in the presence of animals when grieving.
 |
| This gorgeous cat was just hanging out at the florist, flirting with the customers and making a lot of people smile. |
Interestingly there were also
horses, which may be requested to lead a funeral march, and also a very
friendly little cat at the florist. And on that note, if you missed our post on 50 reasons to adopt a cat, check it out here.
