In general, a dog does not live as long as his owner does, so you should be prepared to shed a few tears when he dies (not to mention the great sorrow children feel when faced with the death of a dog!).
In the best case scenario, death will be sudden. Sometimes, however, in the case of a painful disease, you must summon up the courage to end the dog's suffering by placing your companion in the hands of a veterinarian who will inoculate him with a substance that will slowly put him to sleep definitively, thereby sparing him further pain and fright.
With respect to death, some technical details need to be considered.
It is mandatory to officially declare the death in the cases of dogs registered in the LOF - Livre officiel français (Official French Book), dogs obtained from an animal protection society or those who are used by businesses as guard dogs. Note that beyond sentimental value, dogs who have market value (show dogs, rescue dogs, etc.) may, under certain circumstances, have a life insurance policy with an insurance company.
Of course, it is strictly forbidden to dispose of the dog's remains in a public place or in the household trash (Health department regulation, article 98).
On the other hand, depending on a person's convictions and financial resources, several options are available:- Bury the dog in the yard, but in order to comply with the sanitary regulations of this allowance, the dog must be buried at least 35m (115 ft) away from homes, wells or springs and must be covered with quick lime and at least 35cm (14 in) of soil.- Bury the dog in a pet cemetery. Prices vary widely for these cemeteries (which are becoming more and more numerous). A full range of services are offered: cement or marble tombstones, vaults, caskets, grave markers, etc. One of the most famous is L'île des Ravageurs in Asnières, which is a listed site where more than 100,000 dogs are buried (over 40,000 tombs) including Rin Tin Ttin, the dogs of Sacha Guitry and Courteline and Barry, the famous rescue dog of the Saint-Bernard Hospice.- In the countryside, or areas with fewer than 10,000 inhabitants, the body can be taken to the city pound, the veterinarian or a knacker (though it is difficult for most owners to even bear the thought of industrial processing to extract the fat and skin). In Paris, there is a prefecture pound service under the police department that takes care of removing the body from the home.- Use of cremation, which offers the possibility of recuperating the ashes in an urn if individual incineration was requested.
While there is no shame in feeling great sorrow at the death of the animal, there are various solutions available that allow everyone to part with the animal in a fitting manner, without nevertheless going to extremes and erecting monuments!
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