Forty years ago, in her landmark book “On Death and Dying,” Dr. Elizabeth Kubler-Ross observed that “maybe at the end of our days, when we have worked and given, enjoyed ourselves and suffered, we are going back to the stage that we started out with and the circle of life is closed.” As human life expectancy has lengthened, the need to openly and frankly manage end of life issues has increased. Over the last four decades, with increasingly sophisticated veterinary medicine, animal life expectancy, including that of zoological species, has similarly extended. By necessity, zoos have been coping with problems such as aggressive pain management and the need to incorporate end of life care into veterinary medicine. But these efforts have yet to include any formal acknowledgment that they are a simple form of hospice.
Hospice care for humans, and now for companion animals, includes much more than pain relief and geriatric medicine. It is instructive to review the concepts and basic practices of hospice and, the closely related field of palliative care for their relatively recent application to companion animal care, and potential applications to zoological medicine. Formal acknowledgment and incorporation of these concepts and practices into zoological medicine could provide: 1) improved animal care, 2) reduced potential for bad publicity and conflict with the public and animal advocates, and 3) opportunities for personal growth of zoo visitors and staff.
"Katika kitabu chake cha ""On Death and Dying,"" Elizabeth Kubler-Ross anasema: ""Huenda mwisho wa siku zetu, wakati tumefanya kazi na kutoa, tumejifurahia na kuteseka, tunarudi kwenye hatua ambayo tulianza na mzunguko wa maisha umefungwa." Katika miongo minne iliyopita, kwa sababu ya maendeleo ya dawa za mifugo, muda wa kuishi wa wanyama, kutia ndani wanyama wa aina mbalimbali, umeongezeka. Kwa sababu ya uhitaji, bustani za wanyama zimekuwa zikikabiliana na matatizo kama vile usimamizi mkali wa maumivu na haja ya kuingiza huduma ya mwisho wa maisha katika dawa za mifugo. Lakini jitihada hizo bado hazijajumuisha utambuzi wowote rasmi kwamba ni aina rahisi ya hospice. Matibabu ya hospice kwa wanadamu, na sasa kwa wanyama wa kufugwa, yanatia ndani mengi zaidi ya kupunguza maumivu na dawa za wazee. Ni muhimu kuchunguza dhana na mazoea ya msingi ya hospice na, uwanja wa karibu wa huduma ya uponyaji kwa matumizi yao ya hivi karibuni kwa utunzaji wa wanyama wa rafiki, na matumizi ya uwezekano kwa dawa ya wanyama. "Kutambua rasmi na kuingiza dhana na mazoea haya katika dawa ya wanyama inaweza kutoa: (1) huduma bora ya wanyama, (2) kupunguza uwezekano wa matangazo mabaya na mgogoro na umma na watetezi wa wanyama, na (3) fursa za ukuaji wa kibinafsi wa wageni wa bustani ya wanyama na wafanyakazi."""