People abandon many older pets when their owners die, divorce or cannot afford medical care – vets then often euthanise the pets.

The Les Petits Vieux animal shelter in Belgium, however, takes in the animals and provides them with a home and love. The married couple who runs it quit their jobs to work full-time.

The husband said that it is a lot of work, but the reward, as he always tells his wife, are those moments of laying on the couch with the pets in the barn. Seeing the animals happy is the biggest reward for him.

Difficult words: abandon (leave, stop looking after), euthanise (kill without the animal feeling pain).