Goshin... not to take away from your hurt but i just did a FB log in and one of my aunts, who was talking about her dogs left and right on Christmas Eve, she just posted that two of her little dogs got out of her yard and both were squished by car and died right away.
this of course made one of my cousins go grab weapons of any and all kinds and attack said driver and then, go and attack the person who let the dogs out (neighbor). apparently the police came and didnt have to use physical force on anyone and no one went to jail but... the reason why i am telling this story is because of how much love we humans have for our animal friends.
i am sorry to hear your parents are going through with this. the only time my daughter has ever seen me cry is when my dog died and for what ever reason, my kid will forever remember that time.
when my other dog got hit by a car, and he cried out loud, every dog in the neighborhood started crying right away. the other dogs KNEW something bad happened to one of their own. . . . . .
sorry!