Bogie: 2003 - April 2009

"Bogie" was about 6, so I was lucky enough to spend half his life with him. He was one of the 158 former Canine Angels Rescue dogs I legally adopted in 2006, thus blocking the State of GA from seizing them and sending them all to kill shelters. It took a year to successfully place all of the dogs. "Bogie" had been hit by a truck in GA, causing a spinal cord injury, he'd had his tail amputated, and he was left completely incontinent. Despite his gregarious personality - he was always "grinning," - I knew I could never place him as an indoor dog and I don't place dogs to be kept exclusively outdoors. I brought him and his very sick best friend, a Great Pyrenees, to NC, and after I got "Sebastian" healthy, I placed him with a wonderful family. Earlier that year, I adopted "Zinn," my Weimeraner and he and "Bogie" bonded immediately. I'm wiping away tears now as I watch Zinn hunting high and low for his friend, and I'm grateful he doesn't remember the events of yesterday.

Yesterday, due to an error in judgment, human and animal, Bogie was killed. Despite my best efforts, I cannot supervise them 24/7, but I'm ultimately responsible for my children and now I'm emotionally worn out from beating myself up. Despite decades of multiple dogs and animal behaviour studies, I erred on the side of trusting too much. The few weeks the other dog has been with me has not yet made up for what she suffered in her past life and the inappropriate behaviour she learned before she came to me. I've forgiven the transgressor, because animals should not be held accountable to human standards of "right" and "wrong." Bogie, being a dog, and an extra magnanimous one at that, has likely forgiven me. Forgiving myself will come later, I hope. There is a lesson in everything. Some lessons suck big time.

"Bogie" hated trucks, no doubt a holdover from the one he tried to chase in GA unsuccessfully. Any time he saw or heard a truck, he barked his head off and he had a particular hatred of UPS trucks (which made me wonder if a UPS truck had been "the one"). If his barking interrupted my concentration, I sternly called him "Bogart," and he'd give it up, until the next truck. Every time a truck has gone by on the highway this morning, I think I heard a bark from the fenced pet cemetery here on the ranch. ("Bogie" loved it here, where he had plenty of room to run on his short legs.) My friend, Joe, was kind enough to bury him for me. I was crying too hard to hold a shovel.

There's no need for anyone to struggle to reply with comforting words. I know you all care, or I wouldn't have included you in this mailing, and some of you knew Bogie. I've written some of the most published tribute poems. I hope they've helped others more than they've helped the author. If I see a cloud today that somewhat resembles a truck, I'll expect to see a celestial Bogie in pursuit, and of course I'll hear his bark.

Jim

HEAVENLY REMINDERS
Copyright Jim Willis 2002 

Every bark will have its reason,
No meow is ever misplaced,
And even when they leave us,
Death cannot erase their place.

We see them in the shadows,
We feel them in our sleep,
We speak despite their absence,
Their memories alive we keep.

Sometimes still we hear their bark,
their purrs, their whinnies, their calls,
And we wonder how that's possible,
with their souls in Hallowed Halls.

It's because they've sent gifts beforehand,
that echo through space and time,
and they send them back to comfort us,
and of their love their Beloved remind.

 

--
Jim's book "PIECES OF MY HEART - Writings Inspired by Animals and Nature" benefits animal rescue efforts. For samples, info on fundraising and to download "HOW COULD YOU?": http://www.crean.com/jimwillis, or click here to order through Amazon.com:
http://tinyurl.com/9s888j
Celebrate WORLD ANIMAL DAY: http://www.worldanimalday.org.uk
**Some of the most important things in life are not "things"! Please use personal pronouns (not "it") when referring to animals.**

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