Do you ever wonder or worry about the pets of the victims of violence?

I have known a number of people who take over care of animals if there is a tragedy. Usually they are family members, sometimes friends. I have a couple of friends who have no family, and I have offered to adopt or foster their pets.
In the case of natural disasters, for example, hurricane Katrina, groups like state sponsored SPCAs, shelter groups et al, comprised mainly of volunteers, worked tirelessly to either reunite or rehome.
In my experience, friends, neighbors, and/or family are likely to care for them.

No. Never given it a thought. Maybe that’s callous of me, but I worry about the people.

Yes, I’ve also thought about this. As if, simply because someone died in a tragic way, the animals should be forgotten or completely disregarded. It’s really sad. One of my anthropology professors told us stories about how, after tragedies, she would go to various countries to help the people, but by extension, the group would also go out of their way to save any pets that were left behind if their owners happened to die. The stories she told often brought tears to everyone’s eyes.

I’ve not so much thought of the pets of people affected by victims of violence. I have thought about the pets of older people, or the pets of those who get sick and can no longer look after their pet. I’ve pretty much decided when my beautiful fur babies die, when I’m ready, I’ll try to adopt a pet that’s been left alone in such circumstances.

Ive never given the pets a thought. Usually I think about the house. There are so many little quirks and things that need to be done daily: Is the heat on? Will the pipes freeze? Is something in the oven?
I like your idea about a database. Maybe there could be a check mark on a driver’s license that links to a box where the owner can wrote info in case of death, like: “Muffy, needs to be fed and walked 2x per day.”, “The box labelled laundry soap is really filled with gunpowder.”, “The parrot has allergies and needs daily drops in his eyes.”, “The septic tank cover is rotted and will collapse if you step on it.”
Thanks for bringing this up.

@LuckyGuy- You made me laugh- thank you! :)

@msh The idea is not so far-fetched. Our driver’s licenses already have a check box for Organ Donor. We can have one that tells the EMS people to look at the DOT website to get pertinent info the owner thinks is important. Limit it to 500 characters or so.
“1) Whatever you do don’t open the green box in the garage. 2) Be sure to turn off the radiation before entering the basement! 3) Fish food is in the barn. 4) All duplicate car keys are in the box labelled crayons.”

I have had many rescue pets, and still do. I don’t “worry” or obsess on all the sadnesses of the world, I accept that I can only do my part and that you can’t save everything. Of courses the rescue endeavors for pets should be included in natural disasters but in the case of elderly pets whose elderly owners have passed away I think that often, euthanasia is the highest choice for many of them. Elderly pets that have lived very quiet lives and deeply bonded with their owners are not always adoption material and I think an animals emotional and psychological health is every bit as important as their physical needs.

Many elderly pets are just not up to the task of a major adjustment and the individual animals personality needs careful assessment. I had an elderly uncle in his mid-80’s pass away about 10 years ago and his 16 year old, only cat, a very timid calico was extremely traumatized. The family opted for euthansia as her ability to adjust and bond with a new person was very slim. I think we did the right thing for her and my uncle would never have wanted his little princess to be traumatized in her advanced age.

I don’t know about pets of victims of violence but did adopt a cat from the pound whose owner was incarcerated for a very long time. She was great- a black siamese.