Hanson-Meekins Animal Hospital
Hanson-Meekins Animal Hospital
25 East Lockhart Ave.
Coos Bay , OR 97420
ph: 541-269-2415
fax: 541-269-7560
HansonMe
F.Y.I. NEWS
Warning for pet owners 
Please tell every dog or cat owner you know. Even if you don't have a pet, please pass this to those who do. Over the weekend, the doting owner of two young lab mixes purchased Cocoa Mulch from Target to use in their garden. The dogs loved the way it smelled and it was advertised to keep cats away from their garden. Their dog (Calypso) decided the mulch smelled good enough to eat and devoured a large helping. She vomited a few times which was typical when she eats something new but wasn't acting lethargic in any way. The next day, Mom woke up and took Calypso out for her morning walk. Halfway through the walk, she had a seizure and died instantly.
If you die, who will care for Fido?
When you die, what's going to happen to your pets?
Chances are, someone is going to have to make decisions about them. And those might not be the same decisions you would have made.
Scott Forde knows this first-hand. After taking care of his ailing mother, Mary Carroll Bevan, for three years, he thought he had a plan for Bevan's 7-year-old Scottie, Lucy.
Bevan and Lucy were a common sight on the paths around Empire Lakes. They were also known on the putting greens at Coos Bay County Club. Bevan would putt, and Lucy would gather the balls afterward.
Forde expected to take Lucy after Bevan died. But when the time came, Forde couldn't do it. Because his wife is ill in Salt Lake City, the couple will temporarily be living in an apartment complex that doesn't allow dogs.
Forde made the rounds of animal shelters and veterinary offices here in Coos Bay, looking for someone who would take Lucy, either as a foster home for a few months or permanently.
Problem is, Lucy's not perfect. 'She's never known anything but kindness," Forde said. But because she's always been an only dog, she doesn't get along well with other dogs, though cats seem to be OK. The Coos County Animal Shelter decreed Lucy too hard to place after she nipped at another dog. Friends of Coos County Animals couldn't find a foster home for an animal that couldn't live with other dogs.
Forde needs to get back to Salt Lake City, so as a last resort, Forde will take Lucy to a Scottie rescue organization out of the area. But he'd really rather find a Scottie-friendly person here in town -- especially someone who'd be willing to give Lucy back to Scott when he and his wife go back to their normal living situation.
Most important, Forde wants his story to serve as a caution to other pet owners.
'From what the people at Hospice have told me, it's something that happens quite a bit in the community," he said. 'People have dear animals that mean the world to them, but they don't take into account what will happen to them when they pass away."
'When everything gets serious, when you get into doctors and morphine, the animal is just not on the agenda," he said.
Laura Jorgensen, president of FOCCAS, echoed that. 'We get calls really quite often that the family is keeping everything else, but we need to pick up the dog right away," she said.
'Then we get a lot of dogs that are out at the shelter that people have dumped out there, and we have even less information about them."
If the owners were in poor health before they died, the animals often are, too. FOCCAS volunteers get their medical problems taken care of, then take them to Pony Village Mall for adoption.
Jorgensen suggested that people -- even those in perfect health -- add information about pets to a living will, or at least talk about arrangements with family members.
A home for Lucy?
If you have a permanent or temporary home for Lucy, call Scott Forde at 541-888-2344.
Reporter Gail Elber can be reached at 541-269-1222, ext. 234, or at gelber@theworldlink.com.
Hanson-Meekins Animal Hospital
25 East Lockhart Ave.
Coos Bay , OR 97420
ph: 541-269-2415
fax: 541-269-7560
HansonMe
