Last Moments: Witnessing and Representing the Death of Pets

Abstract

This chapter describes the first visual media project to document the in-home pet euthanasia experience: a series of still photographs called Last Moments by photojournalist Ross Taylor and a feature-length documentary film called The Hardest Day by Ross Taylor and fellow filmmaker Luke Rafferty. The images in these works give viewers a window into the intimate and sacred world of pet euthanasia, a widespread, yet largely invisible, death experience for companion animals and their people. The chapter explores the role of the documentarian in witnessing trauma, and the potential for visual imagery to reduce the social isolation and psychological distress experienced after an animal's death. It also examines some of the ethical ramifications of documenting animal death, with particular attention to the potential for visual imagery to increase understanding of the human-animal bond and foster a sense of empathy toward animals and the people who love them. In-home euthanasia of companion animals is, at this point, an almost completely unexplored area, a terra incognita for scholars from a wide range of disciplines. The chapter provides an initial foray into this territory. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved)