End of Life Doula Support
for pets and their people
What is an End of Life Doula for pets?
An EOL Doula for pets is a trained professional who provides non - medical support and guidance to pet guardians and their animal companions as they navigate the end-of-life journey. Doulas offer emotional support, compassionate care, and practical assistance to both pets and their human families during the challenging times of coping with a pet's terminal illness or approaching death.
Their goal is to ensure that both the pet and their person experience a peaceful, dignified, and loving transition during this difficult time. An End of Life Doula may also assist with ceremonies, creating a legacy for the beloved pet and provide emotional support to the pet's human family.
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An End of Life Doula does not provide veterinary advice or professional grief counselling. The role of the Doula is as a loving, practical and experienced support person.
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Rosie's Hospice of Compassion offers a specialised online program to support those who are navigating end of life for their animal companions.
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Hi I am Nicole Beasley and I am honoured to be of service as an End of Life Doula for all animals and their people.
I know that providing support to our animal companions at their end of life is one of the greatest gifts we can give them. There is so much that we can do to help our pets to have a dignified, peaceful and love filled end of life, and in memoriam to honour their legacy. My calling to become an End of Life Doula has come from many years of being with pets and people during their end of life journey and from experiencing the deaths of my most beloved non - human family members. I understand the precious love and connection that can form between people and their pets. It is a bond of pure love and for many of us can be deeper than the connection with our human family and friends.
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I value all animals as sentient beings worthy of the greatest love and respect. In 2016 I established Rosie's Hospice of Compassion Inc (named after a very special hen) providing palliative and rehab care for rescued chickens. The Hospice is also home to senior dogs, disabled pigeons and a girl gang of rescued guinea pigs. I have supported many animals in their end of life journey and shared this experience by creating an end of life support program for animal carers. I have lived experience of the grief of losing those closest to me. My dog Comet was with me for 23 years. Adjusting to life without Comet was a big learning curve for me. The other great love of my life was a handsome rooster named Tilt. His story is here.
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For more than 25 years I have worked with dogs through my company Planet K9. I have known thousands of dogs and their human families. Part of my career was spent establishing and running a behaviour program in the country's largest animal shelter, enabling dogs to be rehabilitated and adopted into loving homes. Knowing dogs in the prime of their lives and experiencing the bond that develops between dogs and their people has been the highlight of my work. As dogs hav relatively short lives compared to humans this also means that I have known so many dogs to die of old age, accident or illness during this time. Over the years I have shared my own home with more than 100 foster dogs.
Death is a part of life and is something we unavoidably sign up for when we share our hearts and homes with pets. It is a part of life that we need to learn more about so that we can serve our animal companions better.
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For a few years I worked an animal cruelty investigator and it was during that emotionally confronting time that I realised the immense benefit of my daily meditation practice on my emotional resilience. I trained as a meditation teacher and have run a meditation group for animal carers for the past 2 years through Rosie's Hospice.
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Last year I became certified as an end of life doula and drawing on my own experience and that of valued colleagues and friends I created an online program to support those caring for pets at end of life. I look forward to sharing this program with you.
