Pet Memorials

Most of us have owned a pet at some time in our lives, and very often our pets become as much a family member as our human kith and kin.  So it is that the death of a pet or a stray pet can represent a time of great loss and sorrow.  For some the loss of a pet is so great that they say "never again", not wanting to have to go through the grieving for a pet again.  Others will cope with the loss by finding a new pet to help fill the void left by the loss of their previous pet.

There are many kinds of animal people, but most of us are either dog people or cat people, and some of us are both.  Of course there are some unfortunate "mere-mortals" who are none of the above!  Then there are the bird-lovers, fish-lovers, reptile-lovers, hamster-lovers, and of course, rat and ferret-lovers!  The dog gets the crown in terms of title: "Man's Best Friend", but of course it was the cat that got to be buried with the pharaohs and queens of ancient Egypt. So take your corners and duke it out, but whichever you are, if you're an "animal-lover", at some time you will suffer the loss of a loved pet and experience what may be an intense period of grief and loss.

Growing up my family always had pets.  Since we lived on a half-acre lot right on the edge of town and country, our pets extended from cats and dogs, through ducks and sheep, to canaries and goldfish!  Quite the petting zoo!  For whatever reason, as a kid, the ducks were "mine".  I was never the proud owner of a cat or dog during childhood.  Now I'm "the daddy" of a toy poodle called Kiwi who has the title of "Company Mascot" for this website.  Small dog, big personality!  Not having the privilege of a half-acre like my parents did, he's the perfect size for my town home.  Boy do I ever dread the day that he's going to pass away, and an interesting observation is that I have been so aware of the fact that his life will be short in "human years", and it seems he has already caught me up in his "dog years".  So we are currently experiencing middle-age together, but all too soon he will overtake me and I will have to deal with his death unless that proverbial bus comes to greet me first. 

Over the last year I have had a couple of friends lose dogs, and right at this moment, another friend's dog is enduring her last days. 

The first death was that of "Mr. Pierre" a "Party Pomeranian".  He was the pet of one of my friend's daughters and was killed in their backyard by a coyote, which you can imagine is a horrific end for a dog, but also something very difficult for an eight-year-old to cope with.  Little Megna was heartbroken, and wrote a memorial and poem for her dog that I published here at ArikiArt to help her deal with the loss. 

Then earlier this year my friends lost their basset hound, River.  At the time they emailed their friends a wonderful obituary for River and it was then that I thought it would be nice, if they agreed to it, to honor River's memory by republishing the memorial they had emailed. They agreed, and here is River's memorial.

Publish a Memorial to Your Pet

If you have a pet that you recently lost, I am willing to publish your pet's memorial and pictures here for a modest fee to compensate for my time.  Please contact me to publish your pet memorial.

Honor your pet or a friend's pet with a pet portrait by one of our artists.

Pet Memorials Index:

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