Till We Meet Again provides in-home euthanasia for dogs and cats. Co-founders Dr. Mark Huber, veterinarian (Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine 1999) and Stacey Huber started the business in November 2018. He grew up in Lancaster County and attended Hempfield High School. Stacey, a Millersville University graduate, grew up in rural Pennsylvania. An animal advocate from an early age, Stacey has been rescuing and fostering pets for as long as she remembers. Stacey has been fortunate to share many years with all types of furry companions whom she considers family.

Rather than putting a pet into a carrier and then the car to drive to a veterinarian or the veterinary emergency hospital, the pet can instead pass at home, with dignity, surrounded by family and other housemates. This service is provided for animals such as pigs and horses, as well. If desired, Till We Meet Again will also make a professional, in-home assessment of cats and dogs to determine their quality of life. Mark says, “At times, it can be so very hard to see objectively if a pet is simply aging or if the pet has actually transitioned to a condition where the quality has declined too far. An outside perspective can be both meaningful and helpful to an owner.”

Mark has worked full time at Pet Emergency Treatment and Specialties (PETS), in Lancaster, since 2008. In addition, he has done relief work for a dozen local small animal veterinary hospitals. Thus, he has met many owners and treated many dogs and cats in Lancaster. Stacey, who is responsible for the initial phone call, counseling owners with their anticipated grief and scheduling of the in-home visits, says, “When we arrive for an in-home visit, Dr. Mark ensures the most peaceful, compassionate and frankly, most beautiful, send-off for our patients for which we help pass on.”

There is a national organization that performs in-home euthanasia, and there are mobile veterinarians that, in addition to yearly physical exam and vaccine visits, also perform in-home euthanasia. Till We Meet Again, however, is a mom-and-pop business. “It is such a tiny thing that we do, in-home euthanasia. But this tiny thing turns out to be one of the most difficult, one of the hardest, times in any person’s lifetime,” says Mark. “After five years of in-home euthanasia, we’ve come to fully realize that the whole experience is night and day different if you’re not at home. The comfort of being at home is so incredibly profound and palpable for the pet, and almost as importantly, for the owner.”

He advises, “There is no avoiding euthanasia of our beloved pets. On the day any of us gets a dog, any of us gets a cat, there is an unspoken promise that we make for them. And that promise is, ‘When you can no longer do dog things, when you can no longer do cat things, I will never ask you to hurt for me’.”

Till We Meet Again is located in Lancaster. For more information, call 717-808-4654 or visit TillWeMeetAgain.com.