DECATUR, Ill. (AP) – An animal hospital in central Illinois recently gave bereaved pet owners an opportunity to memorialize their departed pets.
The (Decatur) Herald and Review reports that grieving pet owners gathered Sunday to pray and share stories about their beloved companions at the Northgate Pet Clinic’s service.
Veterinary assistant Angie Litz helped organize the Decatur clinic’s ceremony with technician Becca Bebar. Litz says there’s a stigma around grieving about a pet’s death.
Bebar says pet owners should take as long they need to grieve.
Macon County Court Security Officer Alan Engdale was there to remember Kid, a former K-9 officer who died in 2017. Engdale had previously scattered some of Kid’s ashes in the clinic’s Pet Memorial Garden.
He says pets not only become part of our lives but parts of us too.
