4 minute read
Animals
from 09242021 WEEKEND
by tribune242
All dogs go to heaven, or The diary of a fur-angel
By KIM ARANHA Animal Matters
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Wow! it certainly is a good thing that there are no space constraints in Rainbow Bridge.
There are so many new arrivals every day, I simply do not know how Frances and Nimba manage to check everybody in and settle everybody every day without being totally exhausted.
All the new arrivals are happy, healthy, and of course the moment their feet touch the ground in Rainbow Bridge they are young again.
A few interesting dogs have arrived in the past couple of months: one is a splendid little fellow who used to live in London called Sbaghie. He’s white and very fluffy and awfully sweet. He tells me that his mum and my mum know each other and are friends. He is a very well-travelledfellow, and quite a social one too. He used to go out with his mum a lot, in fact, he left his water bowl stashed behind the bar at a couple of spots in London!
He managed to stay with his mum for 18 years; three years longer than I was able to do.
I guess by now you’ve probably worked it out, but this is actually the diary of yourfur-angel, Chiefie. I have almost spent four months up here now and I must say I have settled down very nicely. I only recently got fitted with my permanent wings, and boy can I fly quickly with them.
Remember how a few weeks ago mum was looking out the window of the airplane and she wondered if she might see me? Boy,was that ever close; she almost caught a glimpse of me. I had to rush behind a rain cloud, good thing I don’t mind getting wet anymore because that could’ve been a problem once upon a time, I hated water.
I spend quite a lot of time checking on my family. I like seeing how well everybody has settled into the new house. My four “siblings” have all figured out where their special spots are. I notice that they do not miss me as much as I thought they would. Perhaps it is because I was actually quite bossy with them. I was always drilling them about their guarding skills. It pleases me to see that they can bark up quite a storm now that they have accepted their new home.
Mum still misses me lots, I can tell. Sometimes she calls Boss by my name by mistake; an easy error because we do look very similar. Thank goodness she put up my food bowl but has not given it away yet (I am sighing and shaking my head). She kept my tags too and keeps them in her desk drawer. I catch her looking at them sometimes while she remembers me. I don’t like to see her feel sad, but I know that is natural. She will never forget me.
I often have a little visit with Buddy, my brother by another mother (as they like to say in the Bahamas). He and I were very good friends when I was in solid form, and now that I am up the Rainbow Bridge, I can chat with him when he is snoozing; he has taken over as the leader of the pack. They have it a lot easier than they did under me. I was a bit more regimental. Well, after all, my name is Chief. Dogs are super sensitive to the supernatural (as humans call it; for us it is the “super normal”). I can check in with my old Buddy boy pretty much whenever I want to.
I like their new garden, lots of new plants to sniff. I used to love sniffing every leaf when possible. I remember waking mum up because it suddenly crossed my mind that I had forgotten the last clump of pink rain lilies along the walkway. I had to laugh because she was convinced that I had to use the bathroom…. humans can be so funny. She didn’t realise that I had quite simply missed those lilies and wouldn’t rest until I had checked them.
It’s fun to hang out and play with Star (my adoptive mother) and Rascal. They keep talking about the little boys and I have to remind them that the “little boys” are now grown men! Little baby Snowy and Scruffy (Sir Scruffs to you) spends lots of time with me. The biggest joke of all is that Snowball and Merlyn who hated each other on earth are inseparable. I know mum would love to see that!
Every one of the fur-angels who left behind people they loved spend time watching over their special ones. If you suddenly hear a slight noise, or feel a tingle when you least expect it, they just might be right there with you.
pet of the week
A forever ‘Puppy’
By THE BAHAMAS HUMANE SOCIETY
Puppy arrived at the Bahamas Humane Society with her very simple descriptive name.
At approximately one year old, she’s not so much of a puppy anymore, but Puppy’s still young and heart and looking for her forever home.
She’s friendly and outgoing, likes people as well as dogs, and could probably be trained to behave around cats. She’s still smallish and unlikely to grow much bigger, so if you’ve been looking for a smaller size dog, Puppy might be your match. Please call 323-5138 for more information on Puppy and the other adoption dogs and pups. Puppy looks forward to meeting you!
