Dominique Lisbirel: Meet The Woman Who Plans To Marry Her Dog
Dominique Lisbirel is not your average pet-lover. This Dutch woman’s love for her pets extends much beyond the customary hugs and morning walks you commonly associate with pet owners, to the extent that Dominique plans to marry her dog in the near future.
It all happened when Dominique’s husband, Doerack, died recently from kidney failure – plunging her deep into despair. Travis, her dog, came into her life just at that moment, helping her overcome the loss of Doerack. And now Dominique Lisbirel wants to pay back Travis’ love by deciding to walk down the aisle with him.
Did we mention that Dominique’s dead husband, Doerack, was a cat?
??? Dominique Lesbirel ?????????????????????? Travis ???????????
??????????????????????????????? #?????? pic.twitter.com/Vs1HsM7Lw8— Thitapa Siripipat (@Pink_Siripipat) July 21, 2015
Yes, Dominique Lisbirel was married happily to a cat for 16 years, and now hopes she can have an equally satisfying marriage with Travis. She spoke to The Mirror about her unusual marriage.
“Putting Doerack to sleep was horrible, I’ve had him since he was three, but I feel lucky to have had 16 lovely years with him. It sounds strange but I wouldn’t marry Travis just yet. It’s still too soon after the death of Doerack. I’ve had Travis for years. He was a stray I rescued when I lived in Greece. He’d steal my shoes and bag while I was swimming and, with it, he stole my heart.”
Now that’s a very cute love story, and if you think it is the only one of its kind, you are mistaken. In fact, Dominiqe Lisbirel is a specialist in pet-marriages – she runs an online pet-wedding website and conducts marriages for owners who adore their pets enough to eventually decide to tie the knots with them.
Can ur pet sign a marriage certificate? And give its legal consent? If so, happy wedding! https://t.co/YFFOIhP0m9
— John Layfield (@JCLayfield) May 1, 2015
@JCLayfield and the big picture is #LOVE! You do that to the best of your ability and everything else falls in place #FACT!
— NDA Ken (@kennethcharris2) May 1, 2015
So how are pet-owner marriages different from normal marriages? As it turns out, there is not much difference – there are rules (not every relationship is ordained), and once the wedding is complete, owners throw lavish parties to celebrate, just like any other marriage. Dominique Lisbirel’s website claims she has conducted more than ten marriages in the past year alone.
“Not all applications get approved. There are rules, as with any marriage. I’m happy to conduct same sex marriages, or to let people marry more than one pet. I only marry domestic animals, though. In some parts of the world, you hear of people keeping lions and tigers as pets – I wouldn’t marry people to them. I also need to be sure they truly love and respect their pet.”
But if the marriage does not work out, however, human husbands and wives do not have the option to end the relationship.
“The difference between a church ceremony and my online chapel is that I don’t allow divorce. I don’t want to let anybody abandon their pet.”
And while Dominique Lisbirel and her online chapel are mostly a means to promote animal-love, not everyone sees it that way. She confessed that she has been threatened by people both inside and outside Holland.
“I had people emailing me telling me I was cruel. They said I was basically promoting animal cruelty. Some were horrified and thought I was condoning bestiality, which was awful and certainly not the case.”
What are your thoughts on this?
[Photo: Twitter]
