Rehoming a PetSample

Day 1: Is God present if we have to rehome a pet?

I placed him in a metal cage and watched as the kennel attendant slid the door closed. For the first time in my life, I said goodbye to a beloved pet for a reason other than their death.

Earlier that year, I had found myself at a crossroads that I never planned for as a lifelong dog-lover: I needed to find a new home for my beloved dog, Laz. I was going to have to say goodbye, and not in the way most pet owners picture, he wasn’t dying, he was in perfect health, and the years ahead of him looked promising. But he couldn’t be trusted around small children, and I was growing my family.

He had growled several times at my young children – ages three and one, he was strong and fast, and uncomfortable around toddlers. I thought about keeping him, and I did, for over a year, living with boundaries, gates, rules, and closed doors. I read countless online posts of people in similar situations, grieved at the number of stories I came across. I thought of the risks and the unforeseen situations – a gate didn’t properly latch, the kid figured out how to open the bedroom door, etc. But at the end of the day, other people’s anecdotes of successful (or tragic) stories would only go so far, since their situations involved different kids and different dogs.

As Christians, our integrity in keeping a commitment we have made to an animal should be upheld whenever it is safe and reasonable to do so. Unfortunately, in my situation, it was not. So is God with us in our grief when we must part ways with an animal for reasons other than their demise? Yes, He is. May the next several days show you a glimpse of His hand and providence even in the more casual affairs of life—in this case, pet ownership crises.