Yes, as a lawyer I am familiar with contractual provisions. There are many clauses one encounters in a commercial contract: limitation of liability, indemnification, no liability for special and consequential damages and literally hundreds more. In fact, when we picked our West Highland Terrier Dylan from the breeder some 15 years ago there was a lengthy contract covering a variety of terms including the right to return a “defective” dog. But there was no clause in that pet contract dealing with “consequences” of your pet not outliving you.
Well, no pet contract has such a stated clause. It is what lawyers refer to as an “implied term”. We all wish our pets to die peacefully in their sleep but if all wishes came true pigs would fly. You may very well have to deal with a terminal illness or simply debilitation due to advanced age. Advanced age may depend on the breed. For example, a Great Dane has a life expectancy between 5 to 8 years but a West Highland Terrier between 13 and 16 years.
How you deal with terminal illness of a pet may vary but it may involve making “that decision” which may be one of the most painful and grief inflicting decisions you make in your life.
Many of the pet owners I have encountered give thought to the clause and it frightens some of them. Some simply prefer to ignore it “until the time comes”.
However unpleasant “that decision” as a pet owner bear in mind many conscientious owners willingly accept this term as part of the cycle of life. All humans and pets die. Humans can avoid taxes but never death unless of course Walt Disney successfully thaws out sometime in the future.
Next…….when to execute “that decision”.
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