MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide open heart that thinks of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history, because it has meant the pouring into a sick world of the healing medicine of love which has transformed all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years… Underneath all the bulging bundles is this beating Christmas heart.

May you all be richly blessed this Christmas Day, in the giving of presents and of yourselves to your loved ones, friends and those in need - both human and animals - may the spirit of Christmas fill your hearts with joy.

MERRY CHRISTMAS AND RAINBOW BLESSINGS!

R.I.P. Tuche

Tuche was a little Pom mix that ended up at the South LA Animal Care & Control facility, he arrived at the "shelter" on November 2, 2010. Tuche was - are you ready for this? - 20 YEARS OLD!!! He was surrendered by his owner which is something I cannot understand, to have a friend for 20 years and then turn your back on him because he's old and has some health problems - what a despicable thing to do to an animal!

Tuche's story was shared on FB and people started mobilizing and contacting rescuers in the LA area and, lo & behold, a rescuer called the shelter and told them she would be there the following morning to pick him up ... but *tears streaming down Ralphie's face* the "shelter" put him to sleep even though they KNEW help was on the way!!!

This is happening all the time in "shelters" across our country and people need to speak up and put a stop to this senseless killing of dogs and cats. These county facilities are funded by YOUR tax dollars and it's the responsibility of every animal lover to ensure that healthy dogs and cats are not put to sleep, that rescuers are given easier access to these animals so they can be pulled from "shelters" and placed in foster homes until loving, forever homes are found for them.

There needs to be an outcry so LOUD that it is heard around the world - a cry of NO MORE SENSELESS KILLING IN OUR "SHELTERS"!! Something needs to be done and if you want to join a wonderful movement, then I recommend you check out No Kill Nation:

http://www.thenokillnation.com/

It can be done, it is being done already and it needs to spread across the country like wildfire.

I know my mom's heart is hurting because she wanted Tuche to live out the rest of his life in a loving home. You see, my mom loves old dogs and cats, her heart belongs to an 18 1/2 year old Yorkie - me! She knows it's a lot of work caring for an older animal but she also knows the joy of looking into wise old eyes because there is so much love in them, so much peace shining in old eyes.

Tuche could have lived out his life in a loving home, help for Tuche was on the way but the "shelter" would not give him this last gift of love - they could not wait one more day.

If you're wondering why I put quotations marks around the word "shelter", it's because I do not believe most of these facilities act as "shelters". You see, according to Webster's dictionary, shelter means: "That which covers or defends from injury or annoyance; A structure that provides privacy and protection from danger; One who protects; a guardian; a defender; The state of being covered and protected; protection; security."

In my opinion, most of these facilities are not shelters, they're just killing stations where healthy cats and dogs are put to sleep every single day.

Please, do what you can to change these horrible statistics - approximately 5 million cats and dogs are put to sleep in US "shelters" every year.

And tell everyone to SPAY AND NEUTER and to adopt from a rescue league or "shelter"

Until they all have a home!

The truth must be shared!

Voice of the Voiceless
by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

I am the voice of the voiceless,
Through me the mute shall speak,
Till the deaf world's ear be made to hear
The wrongs of the wordless weak.
From street, from cage, and from kennel,
From stable and zoo, the wail
Of my tortured kin proclaims the sin
Of the mighty against the frail.
Oh, shame on the mothers of mortals
Who have not stooped to teach
Of the sorrow that lies in dear, dumb eyes,
The sorrow that has no speech.
The same force formed the sparrow
That fashioned man the king;
The God of the whole gave a spark of soul
To furred and to feathered thing.
And I am my brother's keeper,
And I will fight his fight,
And speak the word for beast and bird
Till the world shall set things right.

My furblings and I are sharing this poem because this is what our mom believes and this is why the truth must be spoken always and everywhere.

Bittersweet victory

Well, I have a strong feeling HQ was swamped with emails about that MOARRAWR website because it's been canned ... it's a bittersweet victory for all of us who saw it and contacted HQ with our concerns - on the one paw, I'm glad they shut it down but on the other paw it's disappointing to find out Catster/Dogster was connected to a website that had photographs showing dead animals, animals in very disturbing surroundings and some pictures had pretty filthy language printed on them.

What is happening to Catster & Dogster? Is the top cat/dog aware of these things? Sad but true - "You are known by the company you keep".

I'm very upset tonight!

Just visited a website that I am told Dogster is behind and I am very disturbed, disgusted and upset about some of the pictures displayed. Here's the link:
 MOARRAWR  

Mommy is going to find out if this is true - we hope not, it would be very sad if Dogster/Catster is in anyway associated with this website.

I'll be posting our findings ... I'm praying it's not true.

I'm sad today

I didn't think it was possible to be sad at Rainbow Bridge but I was wrong because I'm feeling sad today.

We've welcomed so many birds, turtles, dolphins, fish and other sea creatures to the Bridge over the past 2 months, they all arrive covered in crude oil so we quickly lead them to the stream of crystal clear water and help them clean up. Then we give them something yummy to eat and make them feel comfortable. A lot of them have sad stories to tell, they've left young ones behind, some of the brown pelican mommies left nests full of eggs that will never hatch ... we try to comfort them with a rainbow hug, we try to take their sadness away and dry their tears.

It breaks my heart to see them here, they're victims of the Deep Horizon disaster that happened in the Gulf of Mexico - it should have never happened, all these beautiful creatures should be living their lives in the beauty of the Gulf, enjoying the tropical breezes as they soar against the blue skies ... swimming and playing in the warm waters of the Gulf.

In my need to understand why this happened, I respectfully approached the Creator of all things and asked him "WHY" ... with eyes full of tears he replied "GREED" - and I wept with him.

I visited Mommy last night!!

I stepped down from Rainbow Bridge last night and set paw on Manchineel court where Mom and Dad live, my old home. I went in, it was almost 1:00 am ... I walked around the house and checked on my kitty siblings - they were sound asleep. I then went into my pawrents' room and barked one single loud WOOF ... Mom was in that in-between stage, not awake yet not asleep - she heard me. She opened her eyes and softly called "Ralphie?" ... she looked at Dad but he was asleep, he didn't hear me because that single bark was meant for Mommy alone. She looked around the room but didn't see me - not yet anyway. She closed her eyes and slept a little. Perhaps an hour went by and she got up to *giggles* use the bathroom ... that's when she saw me, in the dark of the unlit bathroom the silhouette of a little cat ran out followed by the silhouette of a small dog - me!!! Mom thought it was Maggie running out of the bathroom followed by - wait, there's no dog in the house anymore!! She turned on the light to see if Maggie, Aggie or Claw were around - she was alone. That's when she realized she had seen me chasing ... chasing who??? She asked me many times and in her mind she heard me answer "Lucy, it's angel Lucy, Mommy." Yes, it's true, I visited Mommy last night and I brought my newest fur angel friend, Lucy. She arrived at the Bridge last weekend and I welcomed her with open paws. My Mommy and her Mommy have been online friends for over 4 years, they met on the pet loss forum at RainbowBridge.com and they've shared many tears, laughs and wonderful stories of their Bridge angels. I brought Lucy with me so my Mommy could share the beauty of our visit with her Mommy, so she will know Lucy is not alone - she has forever friends at the Bridge.

Five years at Rainbow Bridge

I've been at the Bridge for 5 years today and, for some reason, mom is having a hard time with this marker, I see the tears rolling down her face and I wish I could kiss her face like I used to do when I was back on Earth.

My bestest kitty friend, D-Max, is going to help me send love and smiles down the rainbow slide so my mom will stop crying and remember all the beauty of my love and the many wonderful memories of our long and happy life together.

Today isn't just my Bridge Day, it's also Memorial Day, so I ask all my friends and their families to please take time today to remember all our fallen heroes, humans and canines, who paid the ultimate price so that we may all live in freedom.

Rainbow blessings and love always.

Thank you, Diary Lady!!!

WOOOHOOO!!! I'm a Diary Pick of the Day ... thank you, lovely Diary Lady!!!

I'm doing a happy Yorkie dance at the Bridge ... there are butterflies dancing with me and my sunflowers are giggling BOL BOL

Rainbow hugs & love to all the wonderful people at Dogster HQ and to all the doggies on Dogster ... remember ~ EVERY DAY IS A GIFT!!!

A cat named Mango

A sweet little Calico girl has arrived at Rainbow Bridge ... I've greeted many animals since I've been here and I listen to their stories and sometimes ... sometimes the horror of what they endured breaks my Yorkie heart into a million pieces ... such is the case with Mango who was doused with lighter fluid and set on fire ... she survived for a few days but lost her battle over the weekend. She was at Best Friends where they were trying to save her life ... and through it all she never stopped purring for the humans who were taking care of her.

Please pray that the monster(s) who did this will be caught, prosecuted, found guilty and punished - though I think they deserve an eye for an eye.

Come on Mango, let me show you my sunflower field *takes Mango's paw in his and leads her to his corner of the meadow at Rainbow Bridge*