DO NOT USE FOR IN-HOME EUTHANASIA. Kathy Haigh came to our home to euthanize our 18-year-old dog, and her service was appalling. She didn't fully walk us through what was happening, and she rushed us. She tried to give him the first shot before my husband was even present, and when we asked for a little time to say goodbye, she impatiently said "okay" and then wandered around our home looking at our things.
She asked where he takes shots best, and then gave the first shot in his scruff instead of the leg, where I had just told her he tolerates them best. It distressed him terribly in his final moments and was traumatic for us. Afterward she looked at my husband, smiled, and said "Well, I got it all in!" as if that were a pleasant surprise, then went outside and left us. Our sweet boy started to settle, then came back violently, thrashing and screaming. My husband ran out to get her, and she said "WELL, it hasn't been a full ten minutes yet!" I have been through this before, and it does not go like this when it's done with skill and care.
After the first shot she insisted we move from where we had chosen from inside to outside, which was the entire reason we chose IN-HOME euthanasia, for the final shot, saying she couldn't see well enough indoors. Then she handed us soiled blankets to hold him in. She had the opposite of bedside manner. Near the end, when I tried to share a little about how much he meant to us and how hard this was, she said, "I've had horses, and they live for THIRTY years… THAT'S hard."
She never had us fill out any paperwork or sign anything. It didn't feel like mercy. It felt like she came to do it as fast as she could and move on. If she has that much difficulty seeing what she's doing, she should not be doing this work. Even our initial phone call was a red flag. She sounded like she was making up the pricing on the spot, and when we asked about individual cremation she said, "uhhh… that would be… an extra 50," in a way that gave me no confidence about what would actually happen to his remains.
I share this in the hope that no one else goes through what we did. This is a delicate, deeply painful time, and true empathy and compassion are the bare minimum.
Please don't let this happen to you. You and your loved one deserve so much better.
