Just this side of Heaven is a place called the Rainbow Bridge

....there is a place called the Rainbow Bridge. When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

Fotolia_rainbowbridge_Andrea_DantiThere are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.
The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.
They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent; His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special fr iend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together....

Author unknown...

The bottom of this page offers a beautiful video featuring John Denver and Placido Domingo.

These two links offer versions as well:

Scooper goes to wait for us

Written by Wanda Williams, President Sunday, 20 December 2009 14:55

Scooper with brother Tex while at 4 PawsI don't know how many of you remember Tex and Scooper, the brother Corgis that were at the Pet Hotel for some time while undergoing heartworm treatment.

They looked so much alike and were such great Corgi guys. Tex went to a wonderful home. You can see pictures of him with Greta and Larry Baria in Mississippi. They are such a nice couple and had just sent in another donation for Christmas and had asked about Scooper.

I had just sent the Baria's an updated e-mail about Scooper and how he rode to school when Mrs. Miller, the mom, took the kids and he knew just which button rolled down the window...each morning he would roll down the car window and bark to tell the kids good-bye.He went everywhere with his family that lived in Moss Bluff.  We had just recently posted  the wonderful Happy Tail about Scooper.

Scooper since being adoptedToday I got an e-mail from the Scooper's adopters...he was hit by a UPS truck and died instantly.

This breaks my heart. He had such a wonderful life and so much to live for...those children are broken hearted and so is the entire Miller family.

He will be missed by all. I am attaching pictures of my sweet Scooper. He was such a fun loving and affectionate dog.

I am so sad.

 

The Rainbow Bridge welcomes Kira

Written by Sheila Gilley Thursday, 10 December 2009 09:11

Kira_soft_edgesI am so saddened to report that Kira has passed away. Apparently she contracted an infection from her mother or as a small puppy, probably before Ms. Becky, her foster parrent  even found her and before we started her vaccinations.

Kira has moved on to the Rainbow Bridge

Beth, her new owner, couldn't remember the name of the infection but said it shut down all her organs. They tried to save her but the damage was too advanced. Beth and her son are devastated and I am too because you all know I adored Kira. They had been taking her to obedience classes at Petco in Texas and she was doing fine but just got a fever one day, and it went downhill from there.

Becky, I am so sorry, you put so much love and effort into fostering her. These things happen and there were no symptoms for us to notice or else we could have had bloodtests run. I hate this, she was such a sweetie and they loved her tremendously.


   

If it should be

If it should be that I grow weak
And pain should keep me from my sleep
Then you must do what must be done
For this last battle cannot be won

You will be sad, I understand
Don't let your grief then stay your hand
'For this day more than all the rest
Your love for me must stand the test

We've had so many happy years
What is to come can hold no fears.
You'd not want me to suffer so
The time has come, please let me go.

Take me where my needs they'll tend
And please stay with me until the end.
Hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.

I know in time that you will see
The kindness that you did for me.
Although my tail its last has waved,
From pain and suffering, I've been saved.

Please do not grieve it must be you
Who had this painful thing to do.
We've been so close, we two, these years.
Don't let your heart hold back its tears.We've been so close.

Author Unknown

Noteable quotes about the loss of a pet

Unlike some people who have experienced the loss of an animal, I did not believe, even for a moment, that I would never get another. I did know full well that there were just too many animals out there in need of homes for me to take what I have always regarded as the self-indulgent road of saying the heartbreak of the loss of an animal was too much ever to want to go through with it again.

To me, such an admission brought up the far more powerful admission that all the wonderful times you had with your animal were not worth the unhappiness at the end.

Cleveland Amory


If you have a dog, you will most likely outlive it; to get a dog is to open yourself to profound joy and, prospectively, to equally profound sadness.

Marjorie Garber

 

The dog of your boyhood teaches you a great deal about friendship, and love, and death: Old Skip was my brother. They had buried him under our elm tree, they said — yet this wasn't totally true. For he really lay buried in my heart.

Willie Morris,

My Dog Skip

Video featuring John Denver and Placido Domingo