Poland Proposes Legal Right for Pets to Visit Hospice Patients

WARSAW, Poland — Upon being diagnosed with gallbladder cancer, Ewa Lutka‑Krawczyk’s immediate concern was for Gaja, a shelter dog she rescued three years earlier. She requested her physician ensure she would have additional years to prevent abandoning her loyal companion.

However, the prognosis proved dire, and this month the 70‑year‑old was admitted to a palliative care ward in Warsaw. At home, her husband cared for Gaja, who struggled to eat.

“She is waiting for me,” Lutka‑Krawczyk said from her hospital bed, where she rested with a draining tube attached to her abdomen.

Under proposed legislation in Poland, patients such as Lutka‑Krawczyk would gain the right to receive visits from their pets within hospice and palliative care facilities. While many clinics already permit such visits, a universal legal entitlement does not yet exist.

Dr. Tomasz Dzierżanowski, director of the Palliative Medicine Clinic at the Medical University of Warsaw — where Lutka‑Krawczyk receives treatment — spearheaded this proposal, which was submitted to parliament by a member of Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s centrist coalition.

Dzierżanowski argued that the presence of a cherished pet can alleviate both physical and spiritual suffering for terminally ill patients, particularly during an era marked by what he describes as an “epidemic of loneliness.”

“We strive to ensure that no patient dies alone,” Dzierżanowski remarked in an interview with The Associated Press.

“When a person is suffering, it is crucial that someone is present for them. Ideally, that presence should be another human being,” he said. “Unfortunately, there are occasions when that is not possible.”

Dzierżanowski noted that he frequently encounters older patients isolated because they have outlived their friends, as well as younger patients who feel alone in palliative care settings, a phenomenon amplified by the prevalence of screen‑based interactions and virtual relationships, which often lack the depth of earlier‑generation friendships.

According to Dzierżanowski, the catalyst for his advocacy was a seriously ill cancer patient named Waldemar, who was not fearful for his own life but deeply concerned about his two cats. He arranged for the cats to be brought into the ward.

The patient’s tears of joy, alongside the emotional response of the cats, other patients, and staff who witnessed the reunion, “made me realize that this issue finally needed to be addressed,” he said.

Dzierżanowski permits pet visits when clinical conditions permit, meaning Lutka‑Krawczyk can look forward to a visit from Gaja. She expressed pleasure upon learning this.

“Animals are already present in hospitals in practice,” said Katarzyna Piekarska, the legislator who introduced the bill, now under review by parliament’s health committee. “Consequently, regulation through law is necessary.”

Dzierżanowski also facilitates visits by therapy dogs. During the AP’s visit, Kluska, an Australian Shepherd, toured the facility with her owner, Małgorzata Brzozowska.

Kluska — whose name means “dumpling” — provided distraction to Lutka‑Krawczyk, who gently held the dog’s paw and smiled.

Another patient, 58‑year‑old Wojciech Zelik, who was admitted with a tumor, propped himself up to admire the dog as Brzozowska prompted Kluska to perform tricks.

“She has such lovely fur, so fluffy,” he remarked, reaching out to stroke her head.

Brzozowska noted that therapy dog visits also alleviate stress among nurses, cooks, and other staff caring for terminally ill patients. Several personnel gathered to pet Kluska in the hallway, where a cook even offered her slices of ham.

Brzozowska, a medical student, emphasized that benefits are even greater when patients are visited by their own pets, as it calms not only the patients and their loved ones but also the animals themselves.

“The dog isn’t as stressed,” she said, adding that this suggests the animal understands the situation and knows where its owner, who was previously always present, has gone.

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