My Take | Tears for pets often easier than for humans
As Queen Elizabeth grieves for the last of her beloved corgis, it is worth remembering that people can be more emotionally attached to their animals than close relatives
The British queen is grieving over the passing of the last of her beloved corgis aged 14. I bet she hurt more over Willow – the 14th generation descended from the first corgi, Susan, given to Elizabeth for her 18th birthday – than the death of Diana.
“The queen has mourned every one of her corgis over the years, but she has been more upset about Willow’s death than any of them,” a Buckingham Palace staff member was quoted as saying.
Five facts about corgis, favourite dog of Britain’s Queen Elizabeth
I don’t mean to be callous. The fact is that people can be more emotionally attached to their pets than close relatives.
When my puppy Snowball died from poisoning 10 years ago, I cried many times. When my two elderly parents passed away – quite peacefully and painlessly – several years ago, I didn’t shed a tear.
So much for my filial piety, or rather the lack thereof, for which I deserve to be condemned eternally to a Confucian hell. Long afterwards, I still re-examined the sequence of medical decisions my vet and I made that I believe not only lessened Snowball’s chances of survival but prolonged his suffering.
