We checked on Susie this morning. She ate hay and grain and strolled in and out of the pole barn. According to our vet, there are no signs of discomfort or suffering.

We all agree she is near the end, but as long as she is eating and moving freely, we’ll give her the chance to die a natural and peaceful death, as sometimes happens.

I admit I find it amazing that strangers far away feel entitled to lecture us on how and when an animal should die.

This insensitivity—it happens every time—is an example of advice we don’t seek, want, or need. (Susie never got to sleep in the house in winter either.)

I wonder when Americans gave up on minding their business or not telling strangers what to do and how to live.

An army of yentas, as my grandmother would say.

When I’m saying goodbye to an animal we have loved for 13 years, I don’t need busybodies from all over the world telling us what to do or when our animals are ready to die. I can’t imagine doing that to anyone, thankfully.

There is an endless number of people on social media who live to tell others what to do.

 

One bored reader wrote, “I spent most of my life on a ranch. We never let animals linger. It isn’t the cowboy way. Would the Amish do that?”

The truth is that we don’t do it the cowboy way, or the messenger’s way, or anybody else’s way. We talk and think and do it our way. I’m not.

I doubt I would give a cowboy such invasive and rude advice and live to talk about it. The ones I know take their freedom and privacy very seriously. I also wonder if this person would ever say this to me if he sat in my living room.

I did have to laugh. I love my Amish neighbors and see them care for their animals well. But I’d wouldn’t use them as role models for Maria and me when it comes to putting animals down when they get old.

This message, like many others,  made me smile and say, “I’m glad I’m not them.”  I’ll keep people posted on Susie’s welfare. Thanks for your kind words.