June 17, 2008

Watermelon Mountain Ranch in New Mexico offers pets new options with its perpetual care program. (Pet Pulse Photo by John Parker, Illustration by Mike Lloyd)

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- It's a hard topic to think about, but what will happen to your pets when you die? Who’ll take care of them?

Near Albuquerque one no-kill shelter is offering a special program that could be a solution for some pet owners.

The folks at Watermelon Mountain Ranch Animal Center recently built a house at the request of a pet owner named Anthony who is very sick.

When he can no longer care for his four pets -- which includes two African Grays named Elvis and Buster, a dog named Leche and a cat named Annie -- they will move into the newly erected structure.

From the outside, it looks like a small cottage, but is really a very big dog house and the blankets on the floor will be replaced with a room full of their future owner’s furniture.

“To recreate as much of a home environment as we can for those animals,” Mike Davis, communications director at Watermelon Mountain Ranch, told Pet Pulse. “To make it feel as close to home as we possibly can.”

The house is the first to go up as part of the ranch's perpetual care program.

“There has to be some resource for people who are in those sorts of situations,” Rick Dillender, facilities manager, said. “A perpetual care program like ours is really the best of all worlds from our point of view.”

Like the other animals at Watermelon Mountain Ranch the perpetual care pets will have a place to live until they too pass on.

Or -- if their owner chooses -- until they are adopted.

The cost of care varies with the size of the pet -- between $1,100 and $2,000 a year.


“These animals are given daily health and wellness maintenance,” Dillender said. “They’re given interaction and training with qualified staff.”

Some people believe perpetual care programs could be the answer to the question -- What will happen to my pets if something happens to me?


“This is something that as our population ages, we need to answer and we hope that this does it,” Davis said.

Currently, while there are only a few perpetual care programs across the country the number of pets depending on their owners to provide for their future is growing.

The estimates vary widely, but the numbers are troubling. Each year anywhere from half a million to four million pets become homeless, because of an owner’s death.

With no one left to take care of them, these animals may end up in shelters, and those that can’t be adopted could be euthanized.

That fear is what drove Anthony to provide for his animals.

“He cares as much for them as anyone does for the rest of their family,” Dillender said. “He wants to see that they’re cared for properly and we’re going to guarantee that it happens.”

Watermelon ranch expects to build several more cottages on their 10 acres for other pet owners who want that same guarantee.

For more information on planning your estate to include your pet, visit EstatePlanningForPets.org.

For more information on Watermelon Mountain Ranch, visit WatermelonMountainRanch.org.

Tell us what you think about “Perpetual Care: The Answer to Pets Who Outlive Owners” below, and be sure to watch this video at the top right of your page. Share your favorite videos by clicking on the ZootooTV tab. Send us your story ideas by e-mailing us at news@zootoo.com or by calling us at 877-777-4204.