{"id":3734,"date":"2024-07-28T19:51:37","date_gmt":"2024-07-28T19:51:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/?p=3734"},"modified":"2024-07-28T19:51:38","modified_gmt":"2024-07-28T19:51:38","slug":"woman-turns-her-home-into-hospice-for-old-shelter-dogs-so-they-dont-die-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/woman-turns-her-home-into-hospice-for-old-shelter-dogs-so-they-dont-die-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Woman turns her home into hospice for old shelter dogs so they don\u2019t die alone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

All dogs deserve a loving home, even the ones that might not have much time left. While elderly dogs often get passed over in favor of younger pups, they deserve a forever home to spend their remaining time in.\n\n\n\n

But one woman has made it her life\u2019s mission to give a loving final home to these aging shelter dogs \u2014 turning her own home into a sanctuary that now houses 80 senior pets.\n\n\n\n

Valerie Reid, a 44-year-old from Hermitage, Missouri, was inspired to look after senior dogs after a personal experience opened her eyes to the problems pets face late in life.\n\n\n\n

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According to SWNS, she struggled to find a home for her dad\u2019s aging Doberman as her dad was dying of cancer. She couldn\u2019t take the dog because she was already at the city\u2019s pet limit, and found that no other rescue would take her.\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe looked everywhere for any rescue that would help and due to her age none would home her,\u201d Valerie recalled.\n\n\n\n

Finally, she was able to secure a foster home for the Doberman: a farm that specifically cared for senior dogs. It was a happy ending for the dog, who lived peacefully for another year and a half in their care \u2014 and the experience proved to be an eye-opening inspiration for Valerie.\n\n\n\n

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\u201cIt started me thinking what happens to senior dogs, who were once beloved pets,\u201d she told SWNS. \u201cMy eyes were opened to just how many dogs out there needed help\u2026 It truly is a forgotten segment of the rescue world.\u201d\n\n\n\n

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So in 2017, Valerie and her husband Josh opened their very own non-profit sanctuary for senior dogs: the Whispering Willows Senior Dog Sanctuary. They bought a 3,000 square feet home in Hermitage, enough room for dozens of dogs to spend their final days in comfort and peace.\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe take in dogs 12 years and older. Sometimes special needs, sometimes hospice,\u201d she told Ozarks First. \u201cSometimes they just come to us for needing a place to lie their head and pass away.\u201d\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

All dogs deserve a loving home, even the ones that might not have much time left. While elderly dogs often get passed over in favor […]\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3734"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3734"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3736,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3734\/revisions\/3736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sciencesandnatures.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}