It’s always hard to lose a pet, no matter how many you have had or how much their passing is expected. No other pet can fill the hole left behind, and healing takes time and support. But if you do not have anyone, no shoulder to lean or cry on, it can be terribly overwhelming to lose a pet. One woman recently lost one of her two cats in Rome, Georgia. She called a familiar emergency number, grief-stricken and not sure what to do. The 911 dispatcher, said the woman, was very kind and understanding.
“I’m 61 years old,” the woman can be heard stating on the call. “I don’t have any family at all, except these two cats, and I really don’t know what happened to this one.”
“But I don’t know who to call. I’m sorry. You guys don’t have to come and check on me,” she assured the dispatcher. “I’m OK.”
“OK. That’s all right, ma’am,” the dispatcher told her. “I know you’re upset.”
“Well… She’s just you know my pet,” the elderly woman continued. “But… but I’m OK. I just didn’t know who to call. And I don’t have anyone to call.”
The sad nature of the situation was doubled by the fact that not only had the woman lost a loved pet, she also had no one to turn to. Her cats weren’t just pets to her — they appeared to be her only friends.
https://www.facebook.com/CherylPreheim/videos/2331117360265803/
Recognizing the severity of the situation, the dispatcher had an officer go out to check on her, just in case. Officer Dylan Wright ended up picking up the call, and his actions have since been recognized around the world.
“We commend Officer Dylan Wright who was recently dispatched to respond to an elderly female calling 911 who was very distraught over finding her cat deceased when she came home,” the Rome Georgia page posted on March 7. “She told the 911 operator she had no idea of what to do with her cat.”
“Dylan responded to the location offering comfort to the woman and realized the female lived alone and apparently had no immediate family. He left the location and went to Walmart and bought a shovel with his own money, then returned to the home where he dug a hole and buried the ladies’ cat for her.”
https://www.facebook.com/CityofRomeGA/photos/a.349303035101117/2294884477209620/?type=3
“His actions speak volumes to his character; having enough compassion and commitment to help ease the burden of someone he just met! Thank you Dylan Wright for your commitment to public service!”
Wright’s compassion has been incredible, and many have thanked him for going out of his way to ease the broken-hearted woman’s sorrow.
