Trakr is a retired search-and-rescue police dog. Immediately after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, he was one of the first police dogs to go through the rubble to search for survivors. He is a 15-year-old German Shepherd who has rendered unconditional service to the community and now has degenerative myelopathy, a spinal cord disease that causes loss of coordination in the hind limbs.

The once sturdy canine cop can no longer walk without assistance. The disease has rendered his hind legs useless. The dog's keeper James Symington refuses to consider premature euthanasia as an option for the former police dog.

But Trakr and other ill pets have something to look forward to. A group of veterinarians have extended their healing hands to provide hospice care guidance for owners of sick and disabled pets. The move is supported by the Nikki Hospice Foundation For Pets, a non-profit organization based in California. Hospice care for terminally ill pets is becoming an accepted practice since its introduction several decades ago.

The Nikki Foundation hopes to encourage more veterinarians to offer their service. Hospice care for pets utilizes pain killers and applies holistic methods to lessen the pain. A grief counselor is also available to provide support to pet owners since nursing a sick pet is not only physically tiring but emotionally draining as well. With hospice care, pets are made as comfortable as possible by being treated at home.

California-based Alice Villalobos, owner of an end-of-life care clinic called Pawspice, shared her view on hospice care for pets.“When the time comes to let the pet go, owners feel satisfied knowing that they have given that pet what the pet gave to them, which is unconditional love.”