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The Center for Western Civilization, Thought & Policy will host a panel of speakers for an event on Thurs. May 2. The event, "Last Moments: Death and our Animal Companions," will discuss the widespread experience many of us go through in losing a pet. This discussion accompanies the "Last Moments" photo gallery on display at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church. This is our final event of the semester and the last in our Western Civ Dialogue Series. The event is Co-Sponsored by St. Aidan's.

The panel will discuss the somber experience of losing a pet as well as the subsequent issues that pet owners are faced with when confronting the decline of their animals. This panel will delve into many questions that are associated with this decision. What medical actions are the most appropriate and compassionate at the end of an animal's life? What are the moral and spiritual implications that people wrestle with when it comes to making that final decision?

The "Last Moments" photo gallery is a photo essay by Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Professor and photojournalist Ross Taylor. Taylor's essay explores the intimacy of the human-animal bond. Photos show the moments before and after the passing of a pet at home with their owner(s). The "Last Moments" gallery will be on display in the Sibell Woll Gallery from April 28 to June 23 at St. Aidan's Episcopal Church.

Accompanying Taylor in the discussion is Cheryl Abbate, Fr. Dan Edwards, and Jessica Pierce. Abbate is a Doctoral Candidate at Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Boulder, writing her dissertation on the philosophy of animal rights. Fr. Edwards currently serves at St. Aidan's and received his M. Div and S.T. M. in spiritual direction from the General Theological Seminary. Pierce is a bioethicist and faculty affiliate at the Center for Bioethics and Humanities at the Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Anshutz Medical Campus.

Students, faculty, and members of the public are encouraged to attend the lecture. The gallery at St. Aidan's will be open from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm on May 2nd, prior to the scheduled panel discussion. The scheduled presentation will take place in Benson Earth Sciences, room 180, beginning at 6:00 pm. The discussion will be followed by a Q&A session and a small reception. A closing reception following the panel discussion will take place from 7:30 pm to 9:00 pm at St. Aidan's. Free parking for this event is available at St. Aidan's (2425 Å·ÃÀ¿Ú±¬ÊÓƵ Ave) about .2 mi east of Benson Earth Sciences. .