Unlike most days at the Rainbow Bridge, this day dawned
cold & gray, damp as a swamp & as dismal as could be imagined.
All the recent arrivals had no idea what to think, as they had never
experienced a day like this before. But
the animals that had been waiting for their beloved people knew exactly what was
going on & started to gather at the pathway leading to the bridge to watch.
It wasn’t long before an elderly animal came into
view, head hung low & tail dragging. The
other animals, the ones who had been there for a while, knew what his story was
right away, for they had seen this happen far too often.
He approached slowly, obviously in great emotional pain, but with no sign
of injury or illness. Unlike all of
the other animals waiting at The Bridge, this animal had not been restored to
youth & made healthy & vigorous again.
As he walked toward The Bridge, he watched all the other animals watching
him. He knew he was out of place
here & the sooner he could cross over, the happier he would be.
But, Alas, as he approached The Bridge, his way was barred by the
appearance of an Angel who apologized, but told him that he would not be able to
pass. Only those animals that were
with their people could pass over The Rainbow Bridge.
With no place else to turn to, the elderly animals turned towards the
fields before The Bridge & saw a group of other animals like himself, also
elderly & infirmed. There
weren’t playing, but rather simply lying on the green grass, forlornly staring
out at the pathway leading to The Bridge. And
so, he took his place among them, watching the pathway & waiting.
One of the newest arrivals at The Bridge didn’t
understand what he had just witnessed & asked one of the animals that had
been there for a while to explain it to him.
“You see, that poor animal was a rescue.
He was turned in to rescue just as you see him now, an older animal with
his fur graying & his eyes clouding. He
never made it out of rescue & passed on with only the love of his rescuer to
comfort him as he left his earthly existence.
Because he had no family to give his love to, he has no one to escort him
across The Bridge. The first animal
thought about this for a minute & then asked, “So what will happen now?”
As he was about to receive his answer, the clouds suddenly parted &
the gloom lifted. Approaching The
Bridge could be seen a single person & among the older animals, a whole
group, was suddenly bathing in a golden light & they were all young &
healthy again, just as they were in the prime of life.
“Watch & see” said the second animal.
A second group of animals from those waiting, came to the pathway &
bowed low as the person neared. At
each bowed head the person offered a pat on the head or a scratch behind the
ears. The newly restored fell into
line & followed him towards The Bridge.
They all crossed The Bridge together.
“What Happened?” he asked.
“That was a rescuer” the second animal answered.
“The animals you saw bowing in respect were those who found new homes
because of his work. They will cross
when their new families arrive. Those
you saw restored were those who never found homes.
When a rescuer arrives, they are allowed to perform one final act of
rescue. They are allowed to escort
those poor animals that they couldn’t place on earth across The Rainbow
Bridge” “I think I like
rescuers”, said the first animal. “So
does GOD”, was the reply.
Author unknown
Shag
came to us in June 2008 from a good home, although he had been eating too much
& was very overweight, which is not unusual for mini horses. He was
born clubfooted, & had problems with his right rear leg, which we had
planned on having diagnosed & hopefully treated.
Shag
was euthanized 11 days after he got here, due to a broken rear leg. He had
blended into the herd & during play probably lost his balance & either
fell or twisted that leg. Equines are not made to walk on 3 legs &
with the additional weight he was carrying, there was no way the break could
have been fixed.
Although
he was only here a little while, he had already become part of the family &
will be missed by all, especially Rusty the mule, that had chosen Shag as his
special little friend.
We
bought Cisco from a horse trader in Marana in May of 1999. He had been sold thru
a local auction & had at least 3 owners in a short period of time. He had
been used for roping & had many summer sores caused by habronema larvae. Our
Vet had little experience with habronema, & we had none. He was very
distrustful of people & was very difficult to doctor on a regular basis. The
sores itched so intensely that he would bite himself & cause horrible ragged
sores. In January 2000, he had bitten his sheath so badly, that because of lack
of Vet surgical facilities in Cochise county, our only option was to have him
euthanized.
Muriel,
the mule, had a very bad accident at sometime in her life. Her pelvis has been
broke, & the muscles on the inside of her rear legs are no longer connected.
She uses her hamstring muscles to move her back legs. Her jaw has also been
broke, probably at the same time. The consensus of opinion is, probably a horse
trailer accident, or perhaps she was hit by a car. She has been passed around,
& is very distrustful of adults. She likes children & the rescuer we got
her from said little kids can climb her legs & do just about anything with
her. She will finally take carrots from us, & will stand still for us in the
corral. But if she is loose on the property, she will not let us get close to
her. She is an unusual color called Claybank.
Muriel coliced on November 30, 2005, & after 2 1/2 days of treatment, had no gut sounds. She was euthanized on December 2, 2005.
SNOWY:
Snowy had been in
a small pen for 7 years with very little exercise. She was suppose to be 24
years old, but the equine dentist said she only has 3 teeth total in the back of
her mouth, so she could be older. She can’t eat hay, so her meals consist of
low starch & sugar feed pellets, timothy hay pellets, beet pulp & rice
bran. Everything is mixed together, water added to make a mush, which she seems
to enjoy very much. She has been here since July 2005, & has put on weight.
Her hair is longer & much thicker than it should be, & has been
diagnosed as insulin resistant.
On April 21, 2007
Snowy was down in the morning when we went to feed. We had been watching her day
to day all winter, as she became more frail & unable to lay down to rest.
Even if we could have gotten her up, chances are she could not have stayed up.
So the call to the vet was made & she was euthanized.
TRUDY:
We got an e-mail
from another rescue in Cochise County about a donkey that was going to be
confiscated by the livestock inspector because of neglect. The inspector had
called them about taking her, but they do rehabilitation. This was an older
donkey & whatever the outcome she would probably not rehabilitate. We were
told she had arthritis & didn’t walk very well. The owners had been given
2 choices, either they euthanize her or the inspector would confiscate her &
then euthanize her. Or if they could find someone to take her, & there would
be no citation or court order by the county against the owners. We agreed sight
unseen to take her. When we went to pick her up, when we first saw her I thought
her fetlock had been broken & turned backwards, causing her to walk on the
top of her foot. 
X-rays showed no break, so we thought it probably was a contracted flexor
tendon, that had shortened & drawn the foot backwards. Made arrangements
with the Equine Center in Gilbert to cut the tendons. Once the tendons were cut,
we realized the fetlock joint was fused in
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