The elderly woman sat on the sofa in her lounge room, cradling her chihuahua. She was seriously ill, and the little dog, aged 18, was also very sick, blind and deaf.

The woman had no family and the dog was the most loved creature in her life. She was too ill to take it to a vet but she wanted the dog to die in a dignified way. And so she called Emma Whiston, who says hers is the first dedicated veterinary home euthanasia service in Melbourne, called My Best Friend. According to the Australian Veterinary Association, it is one of just a few in Australia.

Vet Emma Whiston, with her own dog Sally, knows at first hand the strong bonds people share with their pets. Inset: Sue Floyed and her family with their kelpie cross, Sarah. Credit:Penny Stephen

Dr Whiston injected a sedative into the chihuahua's neck muscle to put it to sleep, then, using a catheter and an extension tube so as not to intrude on the woman's grief, injected a barbiturate in its hind leg to stop its heart.

Sometimes with such cases, Dr Whiston said, she will later have a little cry herself, and hug her own dog, Sally, but it is also a satisfying job: ''I was able to do it in her home and she was able to hold the little dog while it fell asleep.''