Today we're talking to Sieske Valk about the difficult, and often avoided part of pet ownership - the end of their life.
Sieske is an End of Life Doula and an advocate for ageing pets; She guides pet guardians through the autumn of their best friend's life.
Combining a background in veterinary medicine and the social sciences, she has set up Autumn Animals to support people in maintaining a good quality of life for both their pets and themselves and to hold space for celebrating the human-animal bond until the end and beyond.
In this episode we discuss:
Why it is so hard for people to end the life of their pets
What happens when we give attention to the end of a pet’s life?
What can be done to support the guardian of the pet who is about to die?
How do we know when it’s time? What signs should you look for?
Sieske attitude towards death , being Dutch and coming from a Hindu background
Beautiful stories about letting go of pets - how can a pet have a really good autumn?
What the process is once people have made the decision to euthanise their pet, and how can it be done in a dignified way
What are the different ways you can honour the pet after they’ve died?
Sieske and I also met 8 months after the recording with an update on Autumn Animals - I wanted to include this as it's a really interesting discussion about taking a pause from a business venture in order to recharge. This doesn't mean the project is over, it is actually the opposite!
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Sieske's IG: https://www.instagram.com/autumnanimalslondon/
Knowing When to Quit - Instagram - @knowingwhentoquit
Podcast homepage - www.sarahweiler.com/podcast/
Editor - Johnny Hall / Music - Sarah Weiler / Artwork - Tom Pauling
This was recorded in
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