WOODSTOCK — With over 25 years of veterinary experience, Dr. Shelley Hooven Hoffman has started a A Whisker’s Wish, a mobile euthanasia service to provide a peaceful end-of-life experience for pets.
“I love animals. I love old animals. There’s something about an old animal and how they’ve taught people how to truly love,” Hoffman said from her Woodstock home. “That’s the thing that our animals, our pets give us. That incredible lesson.”
After working in various veterinary practices across the Virginia, Hoffman was looking to retire last year as the industry had changed and the physical demands of the profession were becoming challenging.
“I was prepared for it. Excited about it,” she said. “And then realizing that it sort of gave me the opportunity to step back and step outside myself a little bit more, so that the stress and the anxiety of daily work weren’t the things driving me constantly. It freed my mind to start thinking, ‘Well, what do you want to do?’ Go camping. Knit. I want to see things in the world. Spend time with my sister.”
Hoffman is a firm believer that every individual is given a gift and she didn’t want to waste hers.
“The purpose of those gifts is to use our unique gifts to spread love in our unique way so that we are connecting with humanity on more than just a human level,” she said. “However, you want to perceive that, whether it’s the universe, spiritual or God, that is really important to me.”
She quickly realized she wasn’t done spreading love.
When her mother died over a year ago, Hoffman said that while the death was heart-wrenching, it also had moments of profound beauty, showing her that the end of life could be just as beautiful as its beginning.
“If you let it be, you don’t have to be happy when it’s beautiful, but it’s still beautiful,” she said. “There’s still beauty in it. And that really drove home the importance of what I do when I euthanize an animal.”
Enjoying dinner with a group of veterinarian friends, Hoffman said she tossed the idea of a mobile euthanasia service out to the table.
“So, between those two things, I knew this was what I was supposed to be doing,” she said, adding that her business quickly took off when she announced its opening last year. “And it just felt, you know, when something happens the way it’s supposed to be you get that feeling that you’ve been handed something.”
With so many facets to veterinary medicine, Hoffman has seen and experienced it all. But one particular moment early on in her career left a lasting impact.
“One day the vet came back to me with this little poodle and said, ‘I need you to hold on to this poodle. We’re going to put it to sleep. The owners have already said goodbye. I’ll be right back. I need to get drugs.’”
Waiting for the doctor to return, Hoffman said she loved on the dog, noting how old and frail it was.
“He came back and as we were getting ready for him to do the injection, I asked him what the dog’s name was. And he said, ‘I don’t know.’ That was the moment I decided, never as a veterinarian, would I be in the same situation.”
Over the years, Hoffman admitted she’d been in the same situation. But she stopped, learned the pet’s name and then continued.
“That experience made me realize that (the) end moment is really important,” she said. “I only have a couple of minutes with this cat, dog or guinea pig and I don’t want it to be impersonal. I want something of that animal to be mine. And I think that helps me. It helps me do a better job. It helps clients see that I’m not just there to euthanize an animal. I’m there to help this family through something and be part of it.”
Hoping to take the fear out of the appointment, Hoffman chose mobile euthanasia as a way to relieve the stress for not just the animal, but its owner.
“They’re not going to have to walk back through that lobby with a sad face,” she said. “But more importantly, it relieves the stress, anxiety and fear for the creature. Certainly, over the many years that I’ve been a vet, in practice, there have been lots of euthanasia along the way. Each of those has been really important to me. But within (that) structure, they’re panting, hiding someplace. That’s not fair. I don’t want them to be afraid for the last minutes of their life. I want them to be at peace, know that they’re safe and loved.”
And according to Hoffman, they do.
“By doing it at home, it offers the creatures that. And offers the family the privacy to grieve.”
Appointments are booked as needed or for emergent care.
Hoffman spends a few minutes with the pet, before addressing the owners, explaining the process and answering questions. When ready, she begins, ensuring no pain. She engages the owners with memories of the pet’s favorite toy or food. Once the beloved pet has passed, Hoffman said she takes a moment to say a prayer, a practice she never used to do out loud or in public but has found it helps her find closure.
“It does take a particular type of personality,” she said, adding that she thrives on the bittersweet. “As I’ve gotten older and more mature, I find that when moments like this present itself, I really am totally present for that sad thing, and I give it my whole heart.”
Leaving each appointment, Hoffman takes a moment to stop and concentrate on what she can see, smell and hear.
“I just take in the glory of the fact that I am alive and that I’ve just given somebody, even though it’s been really sad, I’ve given a creature something leveling.”
In recent months, Hoffman has added what she calls comfort care appointments, which include acupuncture and a full quality life assessment, allowing pet owners to learn where in the stage of life their pet is. She also offers Reiki treatments and once certified, she’ll offer animal massage.
A Whisker’s Wish, named for what Hoffman believes an animal would wish for, serves as a reminder that the word euthanasia, derived from the Greek word “eu” meaning “good” and “thanotos” meaning “death” is not mercy killing.
“That’s an old association,” she said. “I hope to shift that by reminding people that the root of the word, there’s beauty in it.”
A Whisker’s Wish can be found on Facebook. Call 540-734-7842 or email awhiskerswish@gmail.com
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