Pet Memorials from the Heart Blog

While there are many legitimate ways to deal with pet loss, one thing that many owners find very therapeutic is to create some sort of pet tribute or memorial.  While some might not understand the significance of this, for those who have lost a pet, the importance of pet tributes can’t be understated. Here are just a few reasons why.

1. Pet tributes are a way of giving thanks. A pet is a gift, and the time we have with our pets is a gift.  It is customary to give thanks for a gift that is given.  By honoring our pets with some form of tribute, we are essentially offering thanks—acknowledging that we were given a special gift in the life of our pet, and in the unconditional love given to us by that pet.
2. Pet tributes are a way to bring closure. When we lose a pet, or any other loved one for that matter, we sometimes need something special to help us close the chapter.  It’s a bittersweet thing, but we must somehow acknowledge that our friend is gone before we can move on to the next season of our lives.  In this way, the tribute is as much for our sakes as it is for the pet.
3. Pet tributes are a way to remember. As much as we may feel grief in the moment, eventually the grief will subside, leaving us with more of the fond memories of our pet’s life. Pet tributes should look beyond the immediacy of death and be a celebration of life.  They remind us of the great times we had.

There are many different ways we can offer tribute for the life of our pet. In memorial services, for example, we might say a eulogy or recite a special poem. We can set up a special tribute website, and there are many websites that offer this service.  For something a little more permanent, we can commission a special work of art, such as the Loving Hearts Tribute Series. All of these are valid pet tributes, and all of them are important ways that we can process the grief and move toward healing.

A hospice care center in Naples, Florida apparently understands that the grief from pet loss can be as acute as losing a family member–and are using this fact to help people learn how to deal with loss in general.

On Saturday, November 6, Avow Hospice will host a special memorial service open to anyone dealing with the loss of a pet. This event, named “Rainbow Day“, is a regular occasion at Avow. The Saturday morning event is free and open to the public, and is hosted by a chaplain of the hospice. Bereaved pet owners are encouraged to bring a photo or collage honoring their pet, and are permitted to share remembrances during the service.

Rainbow Day is not the only event at the hospice related to dealing with pet loss. The center also hosts a special Pet Grief and Loss support group once a month.  The philosophy behind incorporating pet loss into its roster of support services is that the loss of a pet affects all members of a family, and talking about that loss can be used as a way to educate and prepare people, especially children, to deal with death in a constructive manner.  In other words, talking through the loss of a family pet can actually help children prepare for the loss of a family member.

The unique pet-friendly approach of this hospice is actually proving to be an innovative way to turn pet loss into something educational and redemptive, even while bringing healing for the pet loss itself.  It also acknowledges that the grief of losing a pet is every bit as real as the grief of losing a human–something that we at the Loving Hearts Tribute Series have always believed.  Pets are members of the family, and losing one hurts no less than losing an aunt, uncle, grandparent, brother, sister, son or daughter.

The inclusion of pet services in Avow Hospice’s event calendar is also apparently more than an educational tool; this is a center that is truly pet friendly. Every October the hospice hosts a blessing of the animals, and one of its other services is the PAWS Pet Service, in which volunteers bring their pets to visit hospice patients.

For more information about Avow Hospice, feel free to visit their website.

The depiction of animals has always played an important part of art – from the first known cave art in Northern Spain to the art of medieval times until today on everything from pet memorial paintings to jewelry. This type of art dates back 17,000 years, portrayed in a variety of mediums worldwide.

Often times, animals in art held symbolic associations.  For instance, the lamb served as an important sacrificial animal in ancient Near Eastern religious rites.  The griffin was regarded in antiquity as an attendant of Apollo and a keeper of light. Last, animals have always been used in calendars as zodiacal symbols.. Discovered in 1879, the Altamira paintings were found in a cave by a little girl and her Father who was a Spanish

nobleman and amateur archaeologist one day while they were looking for pre-historic tools in a cave. It was on the ceiling of the cave where they saw the bull drawings.

However, even more famous are the cave paintings which were found at Lascaux in the south of France around 1940.  Pestles and mortars were found in these caves, indicating the paint colors were  made from primitive crayons of red, black, white, brown and yellow, mixed with cave water and vegetable or animal oils to bind them. The paint appeared to be either sprayed on with blow pipes, or applied with brush-like tools.

It was around 1502 when animal art became more scientific in study as artists studied the anatomy of animals, setting new standards for artists. Then by the 1900′s, German Expressionist Franz Marc often used animals  in his spiritual paintings. Throughout history, many animals are also portrayed with symbolic symbols in death, on grave markers and  urns, and on pet memorials at burial sites.

Today, tribute artists like Denice Lewis honor our beloved pets, via beautiful abstract memorial paintings infused with a pet’s ashes.