Since whenever cats started being domesticated, I'm sure parents have lied to their children about their passing. Right now there is probably some parent somewhere who doesn't have the heart to break the news that their kids that their beloved cat had to be put down, so they're pulling the age old “they were sent to a farm for a better life” line. As a kid, you believe it, or maybe you just choose to believe it. Because having to choose to put your pet down is never easy, in fact, pet owners would argue it's one of the most difficult situations you will ever have to go through and you'll never fully emotionally recover from it. That's why you tell your sweet innocent children that they just ran away, they're not crossing the rainbow bridge, they're just trying to make it on Broadway or something. You want to spare those naive hearts from such pain for as long as you can.
Unfortunately, this backfired on Vet tech Hayley Cyree. She recently got a new job as a vet tech in a local animal hospital. While she was working the desk, she needed to see her own file so she typed her name into the system. When she did that, she noticed another file of a person with the same last name. So she opened it, and it was her mother. When she read the file she couldn't hold back her mixture of laughter and tears.
*Laughing & Crying*
It turns out, that her cat did not, in fact, run away like her parents had told her those many years ago. Her cat had gotten very sick and needed to be put down… Though it was several years ago at this point, and Hayley is now an adult, the news that her cat was actually on the other side still hit her hard—so tears were rolling down her face. However, also because much time had passed, she was also laughing. What a hysterical way to find out that your parents tried to spare you from the pet-passing heartbreak and here you are as an adult, uncovering their lie at your new job.
Follow-Up
Many viewers found the video heartbreaking and funny, just like Hayley. The viralness shows many others mourning and laughing with her. It turns out that many adults find out that their beloved childhood pet did not leave them the way their parents told them. Many also are commenting on the HIPPA of the situation, saying sharing this story or searching for yourself on a database is illegal. But those comments are quickly shot down, since HIPPA does not apply to animals or vets.