# Poll: Is this memento from a vet a caring gesture or a 'WTF?!' action **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 9, 2011, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986 "2011-03-09T01:10:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Zulema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/db5fbb/32.png) [@Zulema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zulema)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/61 "2011-03-14T04:00:57Z")
I went to a visitation for my friend’s adult son who had died. On the wall was his birth footprint and his death footprint, both from the same hospital. That was freaky. If I had one for my child I would never look at it ever. For a pet I would cherish it but try not to think about it being done after death. My dog died in our presence and I wish I had her paw print now or something in clay. She died 8 years ago and I still get teary eyed thinking about her last day with us. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/62 "2011-03-14T04:19:18Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > Would you be upset if the undertaker sent you a loved one’s finger prints as a memento? In the 19th century, they used to make plaster impressions of peoples face right after they die; I saw Franz Liszt’s at one point. THAT was creepy. This is a nice-ish gesture, and I wish that my vet had showed this kind of tact and caring when my poor little kitty died. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/63 "2011-03-14T04:29:24Z")
Usually the vet asks if the pet owner wants that done, but it’s normal and he was probably trying to be thoughtful. She may appreciate it later. (or not). I’m thinking I might want my dog’s footprint, but I’d like to do it now, so that if/when I do decide to keep it as a momento I’ll know it was taken while she was alive, not after I had to have her put to sleep. ---
**Author:** ![RedWood](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f08c70/32.png) [@RedWood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RedWood)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/64 "2011-03-14T04:34:09Z")
when I had to bring my dear friend and her old sick kitty to the vet so he would not hurt anymore… they made a pawtograph before the merciful injection \>^.^\< my friend kept it carefully. I think the vet was a caring person. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/65 "2011-03-14T04:43:46Z")
My feeling is that it would be a nice gesture. I kinda think “WTF” at the idea that people would be horrified or offended by it. ---
**Author:** ![Caricci](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85f322/32.png) [@Caricci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caricci)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/66 "2011-03-14T18:04:24Z")
I don’t think I would have minded it at all. When my Gideon was put to sleep they gave me a flower arrangement in a cup as I was checking out. That was nice and I still use the cup and think of Gideon. ---
**Author:** ![firewolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c5a1d2/32.png) [@firewolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/firewolf)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/67 "2015-12-12T13:02:38Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I’ll start by saying I don’t think and my friend doesn’t think it was meant to be cruel in any way, but it made her burst into tears and I can imagine it would many others in her position. > > A friend/coworker of mine recently had to have her dog put to sleep. She hated to do it, but he was old (about 14) and in sharp decline with no real chance of getting better, so she took him to the vet she has used for years. It was a major boo-hoo moment for her as it would be for me or most other pet owners. > > A few days ago, roughly a month after she had her dog put to sleep, she received a package in the mail from her vet’s office. Inside was a framed certificate that looked something like a diploma that contained the dog’s dates of birth and death (birth date is an estimate), his name, a poem about how wonderful dogs are, and… this is the really ‘eww’ part… his footprint. > > I don’t know and she doesn’t know if the footprint was made post mortem or if it was made on one of his many previous visits, but it was clearly his- at least judging by the size and shape and all- leastwise it was some dog’s actual footprint. > > I can see somebody thinking this is a thoughtful thing to do for longtime vet clients. I can also see- and lean on the side of- those who think “Fuck me with an ice cold spork, what were you thinking?” misfire, something like getting an ornament with a picture of your grandma in her coffin as a Christmas card from the undertaker. But I don’t want to flavor the opinions of others- > > What do you think? i know this is a old thread but i think it was a nice gester, i wish my vet would have done it, i buy my own now and do it myself. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [December 12, 2015, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/68 "2015-12-12T14:45:42Z")
ETA: **Zombie Alert**. D’oh! I’ve seen way more than one pet owner with shrines to the deceased. One lady had done agility trials for years with a succession of dogs, usually having 2 or 3 at a time. As she herself got older she stopped replacing them with new puppies. Last I saw her she had one dog and an arrangement of identical picture frames with all their portraits. Plus one blank frame. Had the dog been able to understand the frame was for him and to talk about it, I wonder what he’d have said? To me it always said “Beware, you’re next!” To her the whole thing was a tender memento of many hours of happy togetherness with her brood. # People are different. [aside] I opened the thread expecting to learn of some memento a veteran had given to somebody. Perhaps a war medal or picture of his old unit. Folks should remember that “vet” means two very different things. [/aside] ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/69 "2015-12-13T01:24:28Z")
My vet makes a donation to a wildlife charity in the pet’s name, and sends a postcard saying so, along with a note about the pet. Made me cry after I had my cat put down. But it was a really nice thing to do. Also, she doesn’t charge for euthanasia; she said it’s the last thing she can do for a sick or injured pet that she’s cared for, so she does. ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/70 "2015-12-14T05:30:01Z")
Whenever I have had a dog put to sleep, I receive a card from the vet’s office, acknowledging my loss, and signed by everyone in the office. I would have been grateful for such a special gift, especially the pawprint. ---
**Author:** ![Whatever4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f04885/32.png) [@Whatever4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whatever4)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/71 "2015-12-14T05:41:30Z")
I’ve got to start checking dates of posts. But since I’m here again, I have my house arranged so that wherever I am I can see a picture of my soul dog; her ashes are surrounded by some of her toys and, of course, her collar. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Mapp](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miss_mapp/32/369_2.png) [@Miss\_Mapp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Mapp)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/72 "2015-12-14T13:26:26Z")
I must have read this thread when it was first posted and it stayed in the back of my mind; when I had to put one my cats to sleep 3 weeks ago, I told them specifically “not the paw print thing” before anybody asked. I did get a clipping of her fur, though, and her ashes are now in a little box on a shelf. ---
**Author:** ![saje](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saje/32/3631_2.png) [@saje](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saje)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/73 "2015-12-14T14:00:11Z")
Yep, it’s common and personally I hate it. I have my furry friends cremated and this sort of stuff comes back with the ashes. I always specify that I just want a cheap container or scatter tube and absolutely no mementos or poems or anything. Sometimes it works, but mostly I get a bag of stuff that I toss without even looking at. I find the pawprint creepy as hell because I _know_ it was done after death. No and no again, tyvm. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/74 "2015-12-14T14:43:48Z")
Zombie dogs do leave paw prints. ---
**Author:** ![AngelSoft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/angelsoft/32/440_2.png) [@AngelSoft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelSoft)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/75 "2015-12-14T16:35:01Z")
A nice gesture and honestly I never really thought it was something to be grossed out about. The clinic I worked at, we did those for every euthanasia or death. I actually got pretty good at it myself lol But yes, it is done after death obviously. We just took an inkpad and pressed the paw down on it and then onto a card. We all signed the card and mailed it out. The only animal that was tricky was rabbits. They don’t really have a traditional paw that people would expect because they’re pretty much all fur down there. What we did was cut the hair so that it got the shape of a paw and used that to make the print. But really, we never got any complaints from people who received them. ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2015, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986/76 "2015-12-14T18:30:09Z")
There is no way in these situations to please everyone. Better to do something than nothing and I think it is a nice remembrance. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-this-memento-from-a-vet-a-caring-gesture-or-a-wtf-action/573986.md?page=3)