Two puppies comfort each other after witnessing the death of their beloved owner.

Although it is not clear whether animals fully understand what death means, when their human dies and never returns, a pet may experience a great sense of grief at the absence of the person with whom they spent most of their life.

And the life of an animal is not what it is if it is not spent alongside someone who feeds it, cares for it, and gives it the love and loyalty that every living being deserves.

On the third day of the hike, Kris Busching and his friend Mark attempted to descend into a canyon with the two animals to get some water, when they suddenly took a wrong step and fell. Kris was the first to lose his balance and tried to pull his dogs to safety, but it was too late. He died instantly upon impact .

Mark transported the pair of dogs to the home of the deceased athlete’s family in Long Island, New York, United States, where the Mr. Bones & Co. organization intervened to help and take the dogs to the vet, thus giving Kris’s relatives more time to grieve.

“The level of loyalty and love these two radiated when big brother Tonka was admitted to our @amcny emergency animal hospital so his leg could be saved needs no further captioning. Their bond with Little P is forever,” reads a post by the organization.

, A GoFundMe campaign has been created to raise the necessary money for Tonka and Little P’s medical care since Kris’s family has enormous expenses with the funeral and cannot afford the costs of care and attention for these dogs.

Often, when an owner dies, the pet experiences symptoms of total sadness, especially in the first few days. Although it’s not easy, there are small things you can do. Treat your pet with a food they really like, don’t leave them alone, and, of course, give them lots of love, which is the best medicine.