In the domestication of animals and the taking of them into our lives, our homes, and our hearts, we take on the responsibility of meeting their daily needs. When we ask them to be part of our lives, they try their best to understand us and integrate. In this process, animals gave away complete reliance on themselves, and gained restrictions. They no longer roam or forage for food, Some animals spending their lives primarily in a stall, kennel, or cage. What we ask of our companions, often, but not always, is done for our convenience. They are the ones who have to fit into our world, to what we think is necessary. Animal companions who live in loving, caring homes, and whose essence is honored, still give something up. Chris, an Appaloosa mare, became my companion in the fall of 1987. She gained and lost in coming to my home. We found a balance and navigated the road of our relationship. We grew to become each others companion. On the morning of December 18, 2002 I said goodbye to my mare Chris. I awoke to hearing her thrashing. My heart froze. Chris was 28 with Cushing's disease. The time we had spent together was not long enough. I wanted her with me forever. I tried hard to think of her needs. In the few hours we had left I realized I had to set my pain aside, and with an open heart, fill her last moments of breath with nothing but love and honoring the process of death. I could do nothing else but support her. Was it hard to separate that I too was dying in those moments? Yes. Looking into her eyes I knew taking on the role of the predator was the only gift I could give her. Walking the fine line of balance in both of us, giving and receiving was a challenge. In all her pain, she had decided she wanted to stay. Yet again, she was giving so selflessly her love. I had to ask her heart and mine if that served her best. The answer was "No." The veterinarian came and we said goodbye. Her time in this body was over.

The decision we make with our own animals as to when their time on earth is through becomes part of our responsibility. Chris gave up living and dying as her ancestors once did, she could not wander off and die. I chose to become a predator, and release her from her pain, her physical situation would not have improved. Her giving would have come at to high a cost. Her death would have been excruciating. For some that is not the case, and they are able to die on their own.

From one perspective, our animals gained longer life spans. From another perspective, they have begun dying from diseases related to living in our world. There are pros and cons in both directions of their coming to be our companions and living in our world. We created a life removed from nature and its cycles.

In our daily life many of us have become removed from the balance and cycle of life. We work inside buildings, only being outside on weekends. We have access to all types of fruits and vegetables 12 months a year. We fear death, pain, and loss. We are no longer tied to the rhythm of nature and the earth. The cycle of prey/predator is foreign. We are not part of the food chain. Our role in life and death is not something we consciously are aware of. We have come to believe we are superior in the life cycle process and not part of it. As did our animals, so we too gave away and gained in urbanization. We are all a part of the life cycle of the earth, not superior to it, not separate from it, but a part of it.

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