Under Nicola Coyle’s care, dogs with only a few days of life left get to spend them eating steak and going to the beach.
Coyle runs the Grey Muzzle Canine Hospice Program in Britain where dogs with less than six months to live are lavished with kindess, love and attention. She told the Nottingham Post,
“It can be an utterly heartbreaking job. But I just can’t bear the thought of them spending their final moments without the love they deserve.”
Before opening her hospice care, which she runs out of her home in Mansfield, England, she was a nurse and worked for a dog rescue. Once she retired, however, she knew she wanted to help dogs nearing the end of their lives.
All of her dogs come from kennels. Without her hospice, they would have been euthanized, likely alone, at the shelters where they lived. She’s usually caring for two to three dogs at a time.
On a good day, she takes each dog to the shore where they enjoy a day on the beach with fish and chips. At the end of beach-time, they go to a dog-friendly pub for steaks.
She’ll end up spending 500 pounds per dog to ensure their total happiness before they pass. Each dog even gets a birthday party, even though no one knows their exact birth dates.
Coyle said,
“Many have not led a very nice life too, used for breeding or guard dogs, so when they’ve become unwell, they’re not useful any more and left.”
Although the dogs had bitter lives, their endings are certainly made sweeter because of Coyle’s care.
