Merry Christmas Nick. They never do really leave us, always in our
hearts and memories.

On Dec 24, 3:15 am, Noon Cat Nick hotmail.com>
wrote:

The little dog arrived at the Rainbow Bridge, and a pack of dogs rushed
up to greet him. He braced himself, expecting a fight, but this was the
first pack that wagged their tails and kissed him instead of attacking him.

It was beautiful here, and everyone was nice to him. None of them had
been born in a puppy mill, like he had, and used for dog-bait fighting
and left to die in a shelter because he was a mix-breed battle-scarred
cur and wasn't cute. They explained why they were waiting...for their
humans who loved them.

"What is love?" he asked, and God let him go back to earth, and find out.

Warm, and dark, he squeezed in with the others and waited for the day to
be born. Scared, he held back as long as he could, but finally got
dragged out, by his hind feet. Hands without fur held him gently and
rubbed him dry and opened his mouth and guided him to a warm nipple with
milk. He didn't get a good hold on it, because one of his big fat
brothers pushed him aside. The human hand moved the other puppy to
another nipple and held his body, so he could drink.

I will never know what I did to deserve such an awful life full of abuse
and neglect.
My life had become so sad and lonely it was like living in an endless,
dark tunnel.
I remember looking up one day and seeing a bright light shining at the
end of the tunnel.
The light was so bright I thought that God must have send an angel to
finally end my suffering.

God did send an angel, he sent you.
The bright light I had seen was your smiling face.
You promised me that my days of neglect and abuse were over.
My battered body and broken spirit hardly dared to believe it was true.

You opened your heart and your home and gave me more love and comfort
and safety than I had ever known before.
You gave me the softest bed my tired, aching bones had ever felt, and
more toys and attention that I had ever dreamed existed.

Somebody's cat went missing last night,
Somebody's cat had a terrible fright,
Somebody's cat was very brave,
So many kind people his life tried to save.

No one's name hung from his collar last night,
Just a strip of tape for reflecting the light,
But a small strip of tape can in no way compete,
With so many cars and a busy town street.

It's such a dangerous world outside for cats,
With fast cars and dogs and with poisoned rats,
Someone, somewhere by a window will wait,
Thinks: "He'll be home soon, though it's now late."

Just a number to call could have meant instead
Of kind strangers she could have held his head,
I wonder if she's sorry she let her cat roam,
When he could have been so safe in her home?

http://img67.imageshack.us/img67/3559/jimmercs0.jpg

'Jimmer' a Belgian Tervuren, mid 1970s, a few years before I was
born. It was very sad for my mom & dad, they had to have Jimmer put
down at just over 1 year old because of severe hip dysplasia.

but wasn't he gorgeous ?

...is an animal outliving its companion human.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/city/story.html?id=6caee60d-3a74-4c92-a5cb...

Michelle Butterfield, Calgary Herald
Published: Sunday, August 24, 2008

Canada's first memorial wall to commemorate beloved pets

was unveiled in an emotional ceremony at the Calgary Humane Society
Saturday afternoon.

Hundreds of people, some travelling from as far as Penticton, B.C.,
gathered on the grass behind the shelter to remember the animals that
have become so much more than pets -- many consider them members of the
family.

It's taken four years of planning and fundraising to build the wall,
which boasts more than 250 granite plaques engraved with pictures, names
and special messages to more than 600 animals.

"The majority of the people here have lost a pet and understand the
tremendous amount of grief that comes with that loss," said Terri
Perrin, an animal lover and former president of the Calgary Pet Loss
Support Group.

Perrin formed the non-profit group in 1990, in an attempt to provide
counselling and resources for people who had lost their furry friends.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25920940/

By Alex Johnson
Reporter
TODAY
updated 9:26 p.m. CT, Wed., July. 30, 2008

Rebecca Strobel walks into the unknown almost every day when she opens
the door on foreclosed homes.

"You just pray that there's nothing in there," said Strobel, a real
estate agent in Lakewood, Colo.

With the collapse of the housing market, Strobel sees firsthand the
worst of what's going on in communities across the country. The worst,
she said, are the forgotten pets, left behind by their owners as they
abandon homes they have lost to foreclosure.

"I've walked in before where there was a dead cat in the corner with no
food or water," Strobel said.

Recently, she said, a fellow agent came across a dog that languished in
an empty home for two weeks with no food or water.

http://www.decipheringlife.com/theme-pages/animal_emotions1.htm

http://www.decipheringlife.com/theme-pages/animal_emotions2.htm

http://www.decipheringlife.com/theme-pages/animal_emotions3.htm

http://www.decipheringlife.com/theme-pages/animal_emotions4.htm

http://ktla.trb.com/news/ktla-choking-dog,0,4874644.story

August 19, 2008

AUSTIN, Texas - A San Marcos police officer has been reprimanded for his
actions during a traffic stop where a dog died.

Officer Paul Stephens recently pulled over a speeding SUV, which was
apparently going up to 100 miles per hour. Dash camera video shows a
frantic man get of the driver's seat and tell the officer that his dog
is choking to death in the back seat. He said they were trying to get
the animal to a veterinarian for emergency care.

Officer Stephens is heard telling the man, "It's just a dog, you can get
another one."

He's also heard asking the man "what are you on, man?". When he answers,
"I'm bipolar", the officer responds, "I can tell. You need to calm down,
sir."

Officer Stephens then asks for the man's driver's license and proceeds
to write him a speeding ticket.

The dog died in the back seat.

The man says he can understand why he was pulled over for speeding, but
adds that the officer was insensitive and never apologized.