In loving memory
Our Rainbow Angels.
Every animal on this page died being held by somebody who loved them, in a warm place, without fear. For a lot of them that was the first genuinely good thing that had happened in a very long time, and it is the whole reason we get up. Not all of them were old, and not all of them were with us long.
Bear
The one this is all named for.
Bear worked the clinic every day as the emotional support animal for every patient who came through the door. He knew who needed him before they did, and he would rest his head on the knee of a person about to hear the worst news of their life and stay there for as long as it took.
Inoperable bone cancer took him at five and a half, which is a robbery. We kept him comfortable, we kept him home, and we let him go gently when it was time. Everything on these twenty two acres exists because of him.
LL Cool Fluffy
Thirteen years in a carrier, five weeks in a forest.
LL spent his entire life confined to a carrier. By the time we heard about him his legs were deformed from never being able to stand properly, his teeth had rotted, and there were roaches living in his fur. He had been brought to a hospital in New York to be euthanized.
We got on a plane, collected him, and brought him home to Qualicum Beach. He got five weeks. Forest walks, ocean air, real food, and sleeping in warm arms every night.
On his last day Keith carried him around the whole property so he could see it one more time. LL looked up at him with complete contentment and took his last breath being held. After thirteen years of neglect, he died being loved, and we would take that flight again tomorrow for five weeks like those.
Jack
Some days the answer is still yes, and it still ends this way.
Jack was twelve, with a urinary tract infection and kidney values that were climbing, and his owner could not afford the treatment he needed. One of the doctors called us, we said yes, and we took over his care and his bill that same day.
He spent five days in intensive care with IV fluids, antibiotics, a feeding tube, a blood transfusion and multiple ultrasounds. Five doctors gave him everything they had. He never perked up, not once, and eventually we made the heartbroken decision to let him go.
We called his former owner personally to tell her. She was grateful anyway, because someone had tried. This is the work on the days it does not end the way we wanted, and we would still say yes.
Peggy
Named for the leg she was born with, and loved for everything else.
Peggy was brought to us to be euthanized. She had been born with a deformed leg and a set of genetic problems that were never going to resolve, and she was young, which is not who this sanctuary was built for. We said yes anyway.
She was an unexpected addition and she settled in as though she had always been here. She got about on her peg leg perfectly well once she decided where she was going, and she had firm views on where that was.
Her body could not keep up with her and she died after a short time with us. It was a short life and it was a good one, and she was very loved in every day of it. We would say yes to Peggy again without pausing.
Give in memory of someone
If you have lost an animal, you can make a gift in their name and we will add them to our memorial page. Their name will sit here alongside ours, on land where animals are still being cared for because of them.