The Last Walk

"The Last Walk," Ms. Pierce, tours readers through this intimate landscape, in a journey that is scientific, philosophical, and also deeply personal. There are about 75 million dogs and 85 million cats owned in the US alone; 63 percent of all households have a pet. In a narrative that interweaves the last year of her dog Ody s life with thematic chapters ranging from how animals die to pain and palliation, hospice, and the blue needle, readers gain a far more nuanced and wide-ranging perspective on animals, their behaviors, and our own, than can be found in any other work on animal death and dying. The book draws on experiences and studies from animal behavior, including descriptions and studies of animals in the wild, with veterinary medicine, bioethics, and the pet industry. She has interviewed an incredible range of people with associations with animal companions, and these interviews round out the science and ethics beautifullybut at its core, this is a book for the kind of general readers who think about the types of food they are setting out in animal dishes, who try to create a repertoire of signs and gestures to communicate with their pets, even maybe a few who dress their Yorkshires in high fashion or who pay over $200 a day for Hospice."