01/11/2025
Yonder Car: Inception Story
I started Yonder Care in the Fall of 2021, but the inspiration for Yonder Care happened several years prior. I was doing a house call euthanasia for the clinic where I worked. This was an unusual thing for me and I think it may have been my first time doing a house call euthanasia. I was nervous.
This particular euthanasia happened to be outside in glorious weather with green grass and a superb shade tree. The dog was relaxed. The owners had prepared a mountain of chocolate fudge as a surprise gift for the dog right before her passing. When the owners showed this mountain of fudge to their older dog suffering from terminal illness, her face lit up in the biggest doggy smile and her eyes sparkled with delight. Laughter bubbled through those present despite the somber occasion. The owners told me their dog had always wanted the chocolate fudge that the owners would make, but they had kept if from her for years because chocolate is toxic for dogs. Now their last gift to her was the thing she had wanted so much for all those years.
She eagerly ate the fudge as the sedation slowly kicked in. She fell asleep licking the bowl. Her last living memories were of her two favorite people feeding her a delicious and highly desirable snack under a shade tree in the yard she knew well. What a wonderful parting gift. I felt honored to be a part of it.
I think this euthanasia was the real spark that led to Yonder Care. As a student of animal behavior, I am very aware of the emotional state of the animals I treat. So often companion animals are stressed and fearful at the veterinary office. Often they have come to associate the vet clinic with being sick or injured, getting poked with needles or being separated from loved ones. For large dogs with mobility problems especially, it may have been a difficult and painful ordeal just to get loaded into the car to come to the vet office. I would much prefer if the last moments of an animal’s life were more like those of the euthanasia described above: feeling as secure and relaxed as possible, surrounded by the people they love most, and in a place that gives them comfort.
-Sarah Low DVM CAAB
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