Recently I met a woman who is bi-coastal and lives in New York part of the year and in Sequim during the summer months. She has two, adorable dogs (her “babies”) that go everywhere with her. Her greatest fear, especially during this time of pandemic viruses, is if something happened to her, what would happen to her pets?

She contacted me and provided for the Olympic Peninsula Humane Society (OPHS) to care for her pets and find them a perfect forever home, should her named humans be unable to take her dogs. She has a plan A, B and C! OPHS is the “C.”

Recently we took in a large number of cats from a woman who had to be moved into assisted living quickly. Besides arranging emergency care for their mother, an emotional and challenging time, the family had to grapple with what to do with her pets.

Just as you have taken care of your human family members, it is equally important to think about your pets. If you have a will or trust (and we all should), there should be a proviso for your pets.

When OPHS takes in an animal, we create a long profile on the cat or dog’s behaviors, likes, dietary needs, if they like other animals, children, etc. You may be surprised how many animals come to us without any information at all.

The more information you provide for your pet guardian, the better the person or entity you name will be able to care for your animals without guessing or taking time to figure it all out on their own. For example, your dog may only like a certain food; your cat may take time to warm up to strangers but prefers a warm lap after getting used to their surroundings, a dog may have a thing against chickens, or even other humans.

All this is need-to-know information! Anything that helps your guardian care for your pets, the way you would, should be noted.

Also, consider leaving some funds for the basic and emergency care for your furry family members including dollars earmarked for regular vet visits or emergencies. This can be very specifically outlined in your instructions as well.

If you need help calculating just how much this should be given average life expectancies (15 years for a cat, 12 years for a dog), consider reviewing this online reference piece, Pet Ownership Costs Guide for 2021, thesimpledollar.com/save-money/pet-cost-calculator.

Additionally, if you don’t have a will, there are free services out there for you as well. See freewill.com/OPHS.

We love our pets and can’t imagine life without them. They can’t care for themselves without us either. It’s time to buckle down and just get it done. If not for us … for them!

Luanne Hinkle has been the Executive Director of Olympic Peninsula Humane Society (OPHS) since December 2017 and has more than a decade of experience in executive-level positions leading major fundraising and program development efforts in the nonprofit arena. See ophumanesociety.org.