Posted on 06/11/2006 12:51:59 PM PDT by Dysart
AZLE -- When Rayfield Wright decided to have his pet mercifully put to sleep, he did what he would do for any other beloved family member.
He purchased a casket, burial plot and headstone.
One recent spring day, the former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman drove from his Parker County home to the Smoke Rise Farm Pet Cemetery in Azle. This large man nicknamed "Big Cat" for his quickness and prowess, this perennial All-Pro who played in five Super Bowls, knelt at an open grave to say goodbye to a small gray-striped feline.
Wright found the animal on a rooftop 17 years ago.
He took the stray into his home and gave him a name -- Joey.
His family, especially the children, grew to love the playful companion; and Wright, 60, cared for him to the end, until the animal became so sick and frail he no longer had the strength to walk.
Wright buried their cat in the 5-acre cemetery, on land that was originally a horse farm. Among the other animals at Smoke Rise Farm is a former local television celebrity, a Great Dane that appeared in commercials for a Metroplex auto dealership. Wide Track barked on cue.
Wright grew up around animals in hometown Griffin, Ga. He related a dramatic incident as a toddler when he tired and sat down while trailing his mother as she crossed a road to visit a neighbor. Suddenly, a large truck appeared. The driver leaned on his horn and frantically hit the brakes. In a heroic scene reminiscent of an episode of Lassie, the family dog, a German shepherd mix named Gal, dragged the child out of harm's way.
At the Azle graveyard, Wright said a brief prayer for the departed pet.
The cat's granite marker reads:
Joey Wright
Every Good and Perfect Gift Comes From Above
The man who will be enshrined this summer in the Pro Football Hall of Fame is unconcerned if others think the gesture was overly sentimental, or regard his spending several hundred dollars to bury a cat as a frivolous or bizarre extravagance.
"He deserved a resting place," Wright said. "I loved Joey. I miss him. We all do."
That special bond
We are socialized to regard animal life as less important than our own.
Yet many who form a deep connection with their pets experience profound sadness and loneliness when the animals die.
Hurricane Katrina underscored the emotional human attachment to four-legged companions. The May issue of the AARP Bulletin describes how a 69-year-old New Orleans retiree and his dachshund survived the disaster together, as the waters rose, living for five days in an attic on cans of vienna sausage and cheese snacks.
On the second day of flooding, rescuers refused to take Thomas Reed's 7-year-old dog, Weezie, and the man wouldn't leave without her.
"This little dog is my family," Reed said. "No way I was going to leave her behind."
Some evacuees were forcibly separated from their pets. One distraught woman offered her wedding ring to a shelter aide if he would find out what happened to her dog, which was not allowed inside.
These stories and others don't surprise those employed in the multifaceted pet loss industry.
There are pet cemeteries, pet crematories, pet grief counselors, pet loss hot lines, pet loss books and tapes and online chat rooms. The Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping people who "are in this fragile lifeboat together" cope with their sorrow.
The Humane Society of the U.S. sponsors a program on its Web site that accepts donations to honor the memory of one's pet. PetLossCare.com even provides a package ($29.95) designed to help lead pet lovers "down the path of healing." Contents include a celebratory love booklet, a remembrance journal and a guide for a farewell memorial service and candlelight vigil.
Perpetual Pet and other companies specialize in freeze-drying animals, an alternative to conventional taxidermy. The eight-week process preserves a pet's body in a pose of the customer's choosing. "Even from a distance of a couple of feet or so," says the Perpetual Pet Web site, "it will be difficult to tell any difference at all, save the lack of movement."
Cost is based upon weight -- $595 up to 20 pounds, plus $50 for each additional pound.
Perpetual Pet freeze-dries up to about 100 animals per year.
A special place
In Fort Worth, a city ordinance prohibits burying pets in private yards or on public property. Pet cemeteries provide a sense of dignity and permanence and an alternative to those who wouldn't consider placing Fido's body in a bag and leaving it on the curb, like the weekly trash, to be disposed of by the city's Animal Care and Control.
Like Smoke Rise Farm, Faithful Friends Pet Cemetery and Crematory in Everman is a "full service perpetual care" cemetery.
Think of it as a Forest Lawn or Laurel Land for dogs, cats, birds and other small animals.
Owned by a licensed funeral director, the establishment provides burial or cremation (a more popular and economical choice) and offers a complete line of urns and caskets, vaults, memorials, a mausoleum entombment, a prepayment plan and even a carpeted, handsomely furnished "stateroom" for viewing.
Price for a small plot and minimum-cost casket burial is $250.
"I worked at a funeral home when I was in college. I've seen people get more upset over their animals than they do a family member," said Heather Garrison, general manager of Faithful Friends. "Often it's the men who break down and cry. ... Your animal is always there for you. Pets give you that unconditional love."
Soon after the cemetery opened, one family for whom ceremony was essential requested a graveside tent and chairs and arranged for a minister to preside over a brief service. The pet received quite a sendoff.
More than 500 pets are interred on the 6 tree-shaded acres, which features a gazebo and pond. On weekends, and holidays, visitors place flowers or other items of remembrance alongside markers.
Daisy. Sonny. Taffy. Lady. Sam. Zeke. Snowball.
Headstones read, "You saved our lives." "Thank you for making our lives better." "To our best friend, our protector, hunting fishing and everyday loyal partner." "Playing ball with angels."
The cemetery mails each client a death certificate, letter of condolence and a brochure titled Coping with Pet Loss.
"Remember," the pamphlet says, "your grief is genuine and deserving of support."
Coping with loss
Closing the conference room door behind her, she took a seat at the table and smiled into the faces of those seated around her.
Jeannie Nadel spoke in a level voice, her tone empathetic and understanding.
"It's all right to cry, or not to cry," she began. "We want to get better."
Nadel is a facilitator of a pet loss support group that meets one Saturday monthly at the Dealey Animal Care Center in Dallas. The free counseling program offered by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Texas was designed by Diane Pomerance, a certified grief recovery specialist, author and SPCA volunteer.
Heavenly Creatures Pet Loss Support Group meets twice monthly in Fort Worth.
Books about pet loss are as numerous as canine breeds. Among the titles: Dog Gone; Goodbye, Friend; Cold Noses at the Pearly Gates: A Book of Hope; The Final Farewell.
Therapists agree that animals play a role in the emotional well-being of their owners. One by one, those attending the Dallas session spoke about his or her pet, sharing memories and the range of feelings each experienced.
Some believe, and find comfort, in the supposition that separation isn't forever, that humans and their pets will eventually be reunited. An SPCA brochure promotes this notion, describing an idyllic, ethereal place "just this side of heaven" called Rainbow Bridge, where animal companions who had been ill and old are restored to heath and vigor. There they await a joyous reunion.
An ABCNEWS/Beliefnet poll posed a theological question. "Do pets go to heaven?"
Among pet owners, 47 percent answered yes. Thirty-five percent said only people have a place in a hereafter.
When her time came to speak, Kathy Langhorst-Tienter produced an album filled with photographs of her dog. Accompanied by her husband, she drew a deep breath, as if to steel herself, and reached into a travel bag for a stack of tissues.
For 15 minutes, the woman spoke lovingly, longingly, happily, proudly about Jacob.
"Our child," she called him. "Our son."
A neighbor found the puppy, a German shepherd-border collie mix, when he was 6 weeks old, abandoned in a rain and sleet storm. The animal became a service dog and a reliable companion for Kathy, who has multiple sclerosis. The animal lived with the Tienters for 10 years and traveled with them everywhere. Jacob had his own room and TV. He loved vanilla ice cream.
"People say, 'Oh, he was just a dog,'" Langhorst-Tienter said later. "No. He was a person who loved me."
On March 10, the Carrollton couple met with a veterinarian and sat together on a blanket in a peaceful grassy area in north Dallas. Jacob was dying of cancer. In the gathering twilight, a moment before the animal was euthanized, the vet turned to Kathy. As their eyes met she asked, "Are you ready?"
Through her tears, the woman stroked the coat of her devoted friend, resting in her lap.
"I'm never going to be ready," she said.
When my beloved Scruffy and Breezy die, I will have them cremated and when I die I will be cremated also. Our ashes will then be mixed together and scattered.
There ya go. I've always intended to return the mountain that we used to climb together and scatter his ashes at the peak. Someday I will. I'll just keep the pine box spit shined 'till then!
Unfortunately all of this animal concern is ripe for co-pting by PETA and the 'animal rights' extremist crowd. As a result we end up with laws that favor animals at the expense of human lives, health and property rights. Animals do not go to heaven. God created them to serve mankind in numerous ways and we can certainly be thankful for that and take care of them.
Christianity is our foe. If ANIMAL RIGHTS is to succeed, WE MUST DESTROY THE JUDEO-CHRISTIAN RELIGIOUS TRADITION." - PETER SINGER ("Father of Animal Rights"
PETA creates a (nude) scene
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1453399/posts
I have been taught that "Heaven" is a place where we escape the burden of sin and have restored to us what sin has stolen. Death came about through sin, and while animals may have no souls, their death came from sin. So I know my animals will be there.
Some people, yours truly included, do not have children and their pets serve as surrogate children. So there's that attachment.
I also cannot conceive of a God (that I'd care to worship) that would create a heaven yet leave out our faithful animal companions. Something like that wouldn't be heaven at all; it would be very much the other thing.
As much as I hope and feel that all beloved pets will be with their people in Heaven, to put them above God is blasphemy. It is God who makes Heaven what it is, not the presence of any other souls and certainly not the presence of pets.
Because of His perfect love, we will be unable to feel sorrow for those we will never see again, people or pets. Even if God does not allow earthly pets into Heaven, I take comfort in believing that they would simply rest in peace.
Still, I'm hoping.
I can sure relate, we just lost our dog Louie several weeks ago to cancer, and last week nearly lost our other dog who has had bouts of pancreatitis and now has diabetes. We always say "no more pets" after losing one, it's so hard, but there's always another who needs a family.
Just about all of our pets have been rescues of one type or another. Louie was an hour from euthansia at the pound 3 years ago when he was bailed out by a friend who knew we would take him. He had a great three years until his recent illness, and was such a wonderful pet, can't imagine not having had him.
Put another way, the very fact of being alive means there is a soul (even in plants and amoebas) and that soul is connected to a realm as real as dimension time yet not at the mercy of temporal shift. The fact that ALL humans will be resurrected --some to life everlasting in God's presence, some not in God's presence-- is an indication that All life will be resurrected and the innocent will remain in God's presence. ALL animals are innocent of spiritual rebellion (because they lack a spirit though they are souls with bodies) thus they are suffering now only because of Adam's fall and the resurrection of Christ has dissolved that curse for them.
Thank you.
While I'm not one to say as others have that I wouldn't want to go to Heaven if my pets don't, I believe God cares for the smallest among us and his care extends beyond life as we know it.
The first and only pet I ever had growing up was a gray tomcat named Smokey. When I was a teenager I was involved in a wreck and spent 30+ days in the hospital. I had to relearn how to walk and was extremely shaky at it when I came home.
Smokey had lived with us for 7 years at the time and knew there were certain parts of the house which were off-limits to him. (He wasn't allowed on the carpeted parts of the house.) My bedroom was down the hall which was an off limit area and was itself off-limits.
The afternoon after I was released from the hospital I was asleep in my room and my Mom came in to check on me. She found Smokey curled up on the bed next to me. When she started to reach for him to pick him up, he hissed and swatted at her which was extremely unusual behaviour for him. She allowed him to stay.
He stayed for exactly 3 days, only leaving my room/bed to eat and to go outside to take care of business. I don't know why he chose 3 days but I can only guess it's because on the third day I had my first follow-up appointment with my Doctor so I was up and out of the house for awhile. He never came back to my room again.
Only Smokey knows why he stayed with me for those 3 days and he took his reasons with him when he died.
The young Ranger’s eyes fixed on Jason’s, as she considered another of the questions she’d brought for him.
To ask what was now on her mind carried the risk of self-disclosure, but her resistance to truth was melting. Only one step remained.
God’s Spirit emphasized to her mind the emotional pain of a poignant moment involving her recently deceased cat, prompting her to ask, “Do you really believe your childhood dog was over there?”
Jason responded without hesitation, “Oh, most assuredly ... and I felt his joy at seeing me again. But I must confess, I also experienced his pain and confusion. You see, I was the one who killed him.”
The Ranger tilted her head slightly to the right, signaling her misunderstanding.
“I’m ashamed to admit this,” he continued, “ But I pointed what I thought was an unloaded gun at him and pulled the trigger. He died in my twelve-year-old arms, wagging his tail to confirm he forgave me.”
Her eyes glistened, as tears welled up but did not break loose.
He apologized. “I’m sorry. I see I’ve upset you.”
“No, please go on,” she sniffled, “I’ve recently had a similar experience with my beloved cat, Sadie.”
Unseen to Jason Lot, the mind of the young woman’s soul was now receptive. The private doorway through the will of her soul, to her spirit, was creaking open.
“Forgive me, I didn’t know my story would touch such a sensitive spot. Would you like to tell me about Sadie? … I’ve often wished I’d shared my hurt over my dog Chris with someone.”
The story gushed from her.
She explained how she was taking her cat to the vet, wrestling with the animal to prevent it from jumping through a window carelessly left open on the rider’s side, while trying to drive the car. When she stopped for a traffic light, the cat scratched her during its struggle, so she exclaimed, ‘Oh go on you mean thing, jump out into traffic.’ The cat leaped through the window and was hit by a car pulling alongside. It died in the young woman’s arms, purring, rubbing whiskers lovingly against its master’s hand.
Jason’s eyes misted up as she told her story. He reached across the picnic table to pat her small hand while they both allowed the tears to run their course.
She pulled her hand away to dig out a rumpled tissue from her uniform pocket, said 'excuse me', and then blew her nose.
ping ...
IMPO pets are a true blessing for those that connect with them. Some people do not and cannot understand what we pet-lovers see in a dog, cat or animal. Yet, we find a small companion that entertains, is loyal, welcoming, friendly and with a mind involved with none of the concerns of society.
In reality, such a simple answer to life in large impersonal societies where man often feels alone or is alone and companions are not available.
That pet, cares not a whit if we are perfect, if we are wealthy, have fame, glory, honor. They allow us relief from the human world which can be so hurtful, demanding.
So, of course, we grow to love it as part of the family. The more it provides comfort, companionship when needed, the more we see the innocence in those eyes, the more it gives us something we treasure or need, the more valuable it becomes.
Those that do not need the comfort will not grow attached or see those things.
I can't help but think this is an easy way for God to give us angels in our lives - we call them pets. Such a blessing and I am thankful although it hurts when they die.
Whether they are in Heaven or not we cannot answer. But, we feel we would not be able to enjoy Heaven without our unsaved departed loved ones but we just have to accept what God determines Heaven will include. Whatever is included will be accepted same as life on earth is accepted with all of its tragedies, sorrows, griefs and joys.
Look at the pets you loved as a child - they have been gone for many years and we each have survived and gone on to love other pets. Sometimes things are for a certain time - not for eternity - but are still absolutely treasured. Friends are the same - some for many years, some for certain periods - but each treasured.
But, with all that said, I, too, want my pets and all my loved ones with me for eternity whether they passed muster or not. All I can do is pray that God will forgive them and accept them with His mercy and hope that God will choose to include such great fruit bearing creatures in Heaven as He too sees what we see in them.
I'm sorry about your loss but enjoyed your tribute to Shadow. And you're right, dogs will ultimately break your heart.
G-d Bless him for his loss, and more for his caring. I love my cats and will have them placed in a proper place.
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