About Us

In 2018, I lost my best friend of 17 years. I adopted Jessie Cappanelli “The Wonder Dog” Huffman when she was just 10 weeks old from a shelter in Atlanta, Georgia, where I lived at the time. For months I had wanted and searched for a purebred dachshund puppy, but when I stumbled upon her little face with her big brown eyes, and her way too big for her body ears, we locked eyes and it was love at first sight. Without asking my live in partner at the time, I adopted her right then and there and spent the next 17 years loving her immensely. She was one of the few constants in my life. I turned down apartments that would not allow me to have her, partners that weren’t keen on dogs, and always considered her well-being in any decision I made as one would do as parent of a child. To say I loved her is a great understatement.

As I watched her health deteriorate, I knew I did not want her to suffer, but making the decision to end her pain caused the greatest guilt and sadness I’ve ever felt. On December 19, 2018, I held her in my arms for the last time.  As she took her final breath, I felt a pain and loss far greater than anything I’d ever experienced before.

It’s been 3 1/2 years now and I still miss her every single day. At times I can still hear the jingle of her collar and can feel her presence. Sometimes I have to stop myself from calling out for her, forgetting that she’s no longer able to come snuggle. She taught me so much about love and it’s because of her that I advocate so strongly for fostering and adopting shelter animals.  She made an impact on my life far greater than I ever expected an adorable little puppy could, and I am forever grateful.

It is in Jessie‘s memory that Still House Pet Bereavement is founded. Unfortunately, in today’s society, the grief of losing an animal companion is not often supported or even recognized by friends and loved ones, and is greatly insignificant in comparison to the love and support offered when a human companion dies.  Thus, others like myself who have loved and lost immensely, feel they have nowhere and no one to turn to with their grief.

Still House Pet Bereavement was created for those who grieve in silence, for those whose homes were once filled with the sounds and sights of happy, loving pets, and for those left to endure the deafening silence of a now quiet and still house. Still House Pet Bereavement invites you to connect with others who know this pain.  Together, we will support one another through the grieving process, honor and memorialize our beloved companions, and encourage society to recognize and support those who suffer the loss of an animal companion.