RESOURCES

Text and Poems for Memorials

Here are some examples of text you may want to use for your memorial order; you are always, of course, free to use your own words for your order.

Rainbow Bridge poem

Note: this poem can be personalized with your pet’s name if you wish.

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. There is plenty of food, water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor. Those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by. The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing; they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. His bright eyes are intent. His eager body quivers. Suddenly he begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, his legs carrying him faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face; your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross Rainbow Bridge together.

Author unknown

Named You Dog

When God made the earth and sky, flowers and the trees,
He then made all the animals, the birds and the bees.

When His work was finished, not one was quite the same.
He said, “I’ll walk this earth of mine and give you all a name.”

And so He travelled land and sea, and everywhere He went,
a little creature followed him until its strength was spent.

When all were named upon the earth and in the sky and sea,
the little creature said, “Dear Lord, there’s not one left for me.”

The Father smiled and softly said, “I’ve left you till the end,
I’ll turn my own name back to front, and call you ‘dog,’ my friend.”

Author Unknown

Now I Lay You Down to Sleep

And now we lay you down to sleep
You’re finally at rest
Our love for you we’ll always keep
You were the very best
You gave us joy for thirteen years
A memory for each new day
Then came the day of all my fears
The day you passed away
A part of us you took with you
And I can’t stand the pain
But when this life on earth is through
I know we’ll meet again.

Grieve Not

Grieve not,
Nor speak of me with tears
But laugh and talk of me
As if I were beside you,
I loved you so-
‘Twas heaven here with you.

Isla Paschal Richardson

The Once Again Prince

We who choose to surround ourselves with lives even more temporary than our own live within a fragile circle, easily and often breached. Unable to accept its awful gaps, we still would have it no other way. We cherish memory as the only certain immortality, never fully understanding the necessary plan.

Irving Townsend

Tribute to a Best Friend

Sunlight streams through window pane
unto a spot on the floor….
then I remember,
it’s where you used to lie,
but now you are no more.
Our feet walk down a hall of carpet,
and muted echoes sound….
then I remember,
It’s where your paws would joyously abound.
A voice is heard along the road,
and up beyond the hill,
then I remember it can’t be yours….
your golden voice is still.
But I’ll take that vacant spot of floor
and empty muted hall
and lay them with the absent voice
and unused dish along the wall.
I’ll wrap these treasured memorials
in a blanket of my love
and keep them for my best friend
until we meet above.

Author unknown

Assorted Short Phrases

“Death ends a life, not a relationship.”

“A pet is never truly forgotten until it is no longer remembered.” Lacie Petitto

“The bond with a dog is as lasting as the ties of this earth can ever be.” Konrad Lorenz

“The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief. But the pain of grief is only a shadow when compared with the pain of never risking love.” Hilary Stanton Zunin

“His ears were often the first thing to catch my tears.” Elizabeth Barrett Browning

“Until one has loved an animal, a part of one’s soul remains unawakened.” Anatole France

“What greater gift than the love of a cat.” Charles Dickens

“How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Winnie the Pooh

“If there is a heaven, it’s certain our animals are to be there. Their lives become so interwoven with our own, it would take more than an archangel to detangle them.” Pam Brown

“Dogs have a way of finding the people who need them and filling an emptiness we didn’t ever know we had.” Thom Jones

“Time spent with a cat is never wasted.” Sigmund Freud

“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.” Roger Caras

“Like a bird singing in the rain, let grateful memories survive in time of sorrow.” Robert Louis Stevenson

Euthanasia, Pet Loss, and Grief Resources

These sites may be helpful to those having to make a critical decision for a beloved pet … or grieving their loss.

Support and Pet Loss Resources - The Argus Institute

Colorado State University offers this helpful site.

When Should You Consider Putting Your Pet Down?

Hill’s offers a straightforward and sensitive guide when considering euthanasia. Visit the Hill’s site here.

Association for Pet Loss and Bereavement

APLB is a non-profit that has information about animal chaplains, support groups, and more. Visit the APLB site here.

Quality of Life Scale - When to Put a Dog Down

Chewy,com offers a checklist to aid in making this heartwrenching decision. Visit Chewy here.

Animal Compassionate Crossings

This Ketchum, Idaho site has a number of good resources for pet loss.

Lap of Love

Another useful site for those dealing with pet loss grief.

EverLife Memorials

EverLife has information on memorials, counseling, and pet loss support groups around the U.S. Click here to visit the site.

Animal Welfare Organizations

These are deserving nonprofits serving animal welfare – please support them as you are able. Thank you.

Animal Friends Alliance (northern Colorado)

Animal Friends Alliance is a “limited admission, adoption guarantee shelter” for cats and dogs. AFA also provides subsidized spay and neuter for both dogs and cats, offering a proactive solution to pet homelessness. The clinic also provides preventative health care including vaccinations, deworming, heartworm testing, feline viral testing, and microchipping. For pet families facing financial hardship or who receive government assistance, AFA offers financial assistance for spay/neuter through the Prevent A Litter Plus (PAL+) Program, and free supplemental pet food through the Kibble Supply Pet Food Pantry.

DenMar's Animal Refuge Network

DARN is a 503(c)(3) non-profit animal welfare organization dedicated to helping improve the plight of unwanted companion animals by providing services and goods to rescues and shelters that support them. Visit their site for more information.

Austin Pets Alive!

Austin Pets Alive! is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization dedicated to providing the resources, education, and programs needed to eliminate the killing of companion animals.

Led by Dr. Ellen Jefferson, who previously founded Emancipet, APA!’s goal is to see the end of the needless killing of the homeless pets in Austin, Central Texas and the entire country.

Humane Society of the United States

The Humane Society of the U.S. works to

End the cruelest practices toward all animals.
Care for animals in crisis.
Build a stronger animal protection movement.

Click here for more information.

ASPCA

The mission of the ASPCA, as stated by Henry Bergh in 1866, is “to provide effective means for the prevention of cruelty to animals throughout the United States.”