Dealing with Loss

Dr. Hayley Danson (2010)

Hayley Danson knows what losing a companion animal means. “I’ve been through my own losses,” Danson says. “They were hard. I’m highly emphatic and it’s often easier to move through that process with the support of people who understand it.” That’s why, after working for urban and rural veterinary clinics in the Pacific Northwest since graduating from Iowa State, Danson started Hummingbird Veterinary Hospice Care with Dr. Melissa Knutzen, a long-time colleague. “Offering hospice care means geriatric patients can stay in their home, rather than loading up in the car and going into a clinic,” Danson said. “It’s often easier to move through that process with the support of people who understand it and I don’t mind sitting with someone and their grief.”