[nagdu] Article: Blind womans HEALTHY guide dog is killed and buried alongside her in fulfilment of her dying wish

[Toni Whaley]

Hello!

This article makes me very sad. I know that I could never make such a
request. My daughter knows that if I die while Haze is still young enough to
serve someone else as a guide dog, she is to return her to Seeing Eye;
otherwise, my daughter can keep the dog. Of course, I know that my daughter
loves dogs and will give any dog she has in her house the best care. 

Toni

-----Original Message-----
From: nagdu [mailto:nagdu-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of
Criminaljusticemajor Extraordinarie
Sent: Tuesday, April 09, 2013 1:02 AM
To: Undisclosed-Recipient:;
Subject: [nagdu] Article: Blind womans HEALTHY guide dog is killed and
buried alongside her in fulfilment of her dying wish

Blind womans HEALTHY guide dog is killed and buried alongside her in
fulfilment of her dying wish The family of a blind woman who killed her
healthy guide dog so it could be buried alongside her have suffered a hate
campaign and received death threats, it was revealed today. 
Shelia Stadler, 68, from Terre Haute, Indiana, died of cancer with her
five-year-old guide dog Toffee by her side last month. 
A few days later later her son Andy had the healthy dog put down so it could
placed in Mrs Stadler's coffin to fulfil her dying wish.
But the controversial decision to destroy the dog has provoked a huge
backlash in the town with Mrs Stadler's son receiving death threats - and
even suffering abuse from members of his own family.
Heartbroken: Sheila Stadle apparently couldn't bear to part with her guide
dog when she died Faithful companion: Healthy five-year old Toffee was
apparently put to sleep and buried at the request of his owner (file
picture) 'How could they do it?' Gregory Reilly from the Honey Creek Animal
Hospital was wrongly implicated as having put the dog down, and believes the
decision to do so was questionable Gregory Reilly, a veterinary assistant
with the local Honey Creek Animal Hospital, said: 'It got totally out of
control. The neighborhood was really angry. People were saying they should
burn in hell. Terrible things were said.
'Mr Stadler told me he had received death threats and a member of his own
family wrote on a Facebook page that she could not believe he had done it.'
Mr Reilly was also caught up in the furore after being blamed wrongly for
putting Toffee down.
He said: 'We would never euthanise a dog - we simply find them a new home.
All I did was try to find out whether what the Stadler's did was legal. 
'It seems very morbid to me but unfortunately as the dog was their property,
it was perfectly legal.' 
Mrs Stadler died on March 8, and had expressed a wish to her family that she
should be buried with her beloved labrador Toffee.
Her son Andrew, a tax accountant, then carried out her instructions after
saying the dog had shown signs of mourning and 'wandered aimlessly' in the
days after Mrs Stadler died.
It is not known when Toffee was euthanized but the story first emerged on
WTHITV, which stated: 'Shelia Stadler, 68, of Brazil, died March 8 at home
with her service animal, Toffee, at her side. 
'Days later, the Stadler family had Toffee, a perfectly healthy 5-year-old
dog, euthanized, displayed in the coffin at Shelia's visitation, and buried
with her in Summit Lawn Cemetery right outside Brazil.'
In mourning: DeBaun Funeral Homes and Crematory's obituary said that Toffee
had been Sheila's 'constant companion for five years'
It cited an obituary saying: 'She loved Toffee, her seeing-eye dog and
constant companion for five years.'
But when the report provoked a storm of criticism against Mrs Stadler's
family, station boss Todd Webber withdrew the story from the website and
refused to comment on the reasons why.
Mr Reilly said: 'The family and the station have taken a lot of heat on
this. There was a Facebook page with so much criticism on that they had to
take it down.'
The Dogs Trust said:  'There is never any reason to put a healthy dog to
sleep when it could be happily rehomed. 
'We hope that this sad story could never be repeated in the UK. 
Guide Dogs UK also made it clear that this case was unacceptable.
Oliver Barton, regional director, said: 'We would never condone this.
Whatever happens, we would make sure that the dog was happy and cared for' 
Paying tribute to Mrs Stadler, the DeBaun Funeral Home refused to comment on
its involvement in displaying the euthanized dog but said that she had been
a 'dedicated homemaker' whose favourite book was the Bible. 
Mrs Stadler is not the only owner to request such a burial in recent years. 
NBC reported that Tom Tom, a healthy 2-year-old Yorkshire terrier was put
down so that he could be buried with his owner, Donald Ellis from Arkansas.
His sister said that she had 'a lot of grief for doing this, but it's what
my brother wanted.'
Emily Kinney from Dallas, Texas told NBC that her grandmother asked for her
Shih-tzu Sam to be buried in her coffin. She said that 'she wanted her best
friend with her'.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2303841/Blind-woman-s-HEALTHY-guide-
dog-killed-buried-alongside-fulfilment-dying-wish.html?ito=feeds-newsxml&utm
_source=buffer&buffer_share=9007e
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