Bailey: EOL Animal Hospice & Forever Family Happy ever after

Animals have always spoken to me. I am a deeply Spiritual person, and very much in tune with the energies of the earth, animals and Spirit.

I had a dream, where Geisha, my previous soul dog, had told me there was more work to do. Another Soul Mission to undertake. A deep knowing inside. Anticipation of the unknown.

By this time, I had given up questioning the multiple strange synchronistic events unfolding. I began to anticipate with deep curiosity what the next side quest would take me. 

I woke one morning early to see a video posted by the rescue, asking for volunteers, and for donations, and help.  I took one look into those eyes and I fell in love. A text message sent just a few moments later began a chain reaction of events, orchestrated so prefectly, and so profoundly, it still feels like a movie!

Bailey came to me after a few days being pulled from the kill list at LDH, by a volunteer who decided he couldn't die in that hell-hole! He was very much loved by his elderly owners and sadly they had been convinced that to surrender Bailey to LDH when they couldn't afford surgery, with the hopes that a rescue would intervene.

Bailey had developed several large mast-cell grape-fruit sized tumours under his armpit affecting his lymph-nodes, and severely affected his mobility.

We collected him from another foster carer, just 2 days before he was scheduled for life-extending surgery, and we smothered him with love, food and tenderness both before and after. 

He immediately bonded with us both and straight away connected and bonded deeply with our dog Tippy, despite both having their own cave-crates, they would often curl up together, total bonded snuggle bugs.

I am grateful for the amazing people we met, the beautiful loving caring people who shared their stories with us, and the courageous rescuers who also learned of the profound love, ripples of change, and creating awareness.

Many people sent gifts, and donated to the rescue, others would send presents for Bailey, and pictures and letters, often asking him to tell pets on Rainbow Bridge that their hoomans on earth still love them.

"Please tell them we are sorry. Please know we tried our best. . We replied to every letter with a return address."

Creating ritual and sharing our profound grief with the world was in a way so very vulnerable, but also so very bonding. 

It allowed me to see that in choosing to shower Bailey with Love, and sharing ourselves with the world, we were able to offer love, support and assurance to others, who needed to work through their own loss, grief, relating to their own profound pet animal death, and their sense of loss. 

The rescue had created a Bucket-list of events and experiences to publicise the rescue.

Each day I was fielding mulitple publicity calls from tv stations, newspapers, local radio, local tv, it was overwhelming. 

Advocating for Bailey vet needs, and for our own mental and emotional needs for ourselves became exhausting.

After attending a local radio station, in Melbourne, with Bailey, who had severe mobility issues at that point.

I asked the universe for the wisdom and grace to be able to see, feel, hear, know, the time is near.

And I often asked Bailey to let me know when he believed his time was close, with absolute faith, I would know the sign. from him

I began to struggle with the ethics of it all and withdrew suddenly.

I became annoyed at the at the exploitation taking place. Suddenly it was abut publicity for the rescue. These events were beginning to affect Baileys health negatively. He was tired, recovering from surgery, and a publicity tour to radioa stations, tv networks for a weather forecast wer plitely but firmly a NO.

I was angry at the lack of medical treatment, the complications after surgery, the lack of communication between the rescue admin and the vet team. 

This was the most difficult period of my life where I had to stand up to someone whom I had once admired, and to call this person out on her behaviour which was not aligned in the best interests of Bailey. I made a choice to choose what was right for Bailey. And to say No because it was right at that moment. To say No. Absolutely No. Bailey need comfort, rest and compassionate care with a family that loved him perfectly imperfect as he was.

His presence enriched our lives and through meeting so many generous individuals during the Bucket list, who were focused on love and could see how happy he was in his forever-home.

A few days after we visited the LGBTQIA radio station in Prahran, Victoria, I had a feeling that his time was close.

Thursday, we walked the kids to school as usual with the dogs. Then we walked to the creek, along the paddocks, the pathway meandering, slowly climbing the ascending hill, until we stood at the lookout across the city.

The day we spent together, making precious memories, fun, running free across the paddocks, exploring. We sat under a gum tree and had a picnic.

I remember tears streaming down my cheeks, watching the joy and playful bows between our 2 dogs. 

Later that evening, Bailey came and sat in front of me, looking staring deep into the depths of my soul. Deep big sighs, then placed his head next to mine, foreheads touching. I heard the words 'time is now'. 

I knew in my heart it was time, so I phoned his other foster-carers who decided to meet us at the vet to be there to say their farewells too.

One of the volunteers was a Reiki Master and held distance reiki vigil for us on the way to the emergency vet at 10pm at night. We stopped at his favourite burger place for a McWaggy Cheeseburger Meal and ice-cream cone! He gobbled it greedily like it was his last meal ever.... 

Animal Reiki means to sit in a compassionate energetic space, without agenda, without need to assess, judge, control outcome. To merely surrender to the flow, and lovingly observe with calm compassionate detachment. To bear witness is a powerful space to be during death. 

We sat in vigil together at the vet clinic, as we said good-bye to our beautiful boy, where he took his last peaceful breaths surrounded by humans who loved him dearly, fiercely if only for a short time.

The lovely kind, gentle vet-nurse came and asked us what we would like to do, if we had made any decisions regarding our wishes. I cannot put into words the hole that I felt in my soul at Bailey passing. 

We brought him home and placed him upon his couch where he often snuggled with us. We kept vigil beside him for 24 hours, while it allowed Tippy and the other human foster-carers, an opportunity to say their own personal good-byes too.

2 weeks later the photographer called and asked to share a gift with us she had made in honour of our precious Bailey. 

She arrived at our home with a massive frame, and presented us with an USB with every single shot taken in the park that day, memorialised forever.

That day Baileys ashes were also returned to us. We had chosen to have him cremated and shared some of his ashes in sacred necklace urns, and we had a small ritual together.

United in our Grief, and Our Love for our Sentient companions.

We took some of his hair, kept in a locket, and his ashes are in the Animal Altar with his other fur-siblings. We held a small wake at home and my children wrote poems and drew letters.

We chose to have Bailey cremated as we rented at the time. To cope and express my immense grief, I made a scrap book with all his pictures, and his white-board bucket-list still is in the shed with the other frames in storage.

I found channelling my grief through activities with the children, and rituals for myself helped me to process the deep grief I felt at the loss after Bailey's death. 

In the days after Baileys death, there was a huge collective outreach of support from strangers all across the world. I felt more understood by complete strangers, connected only through our mutualy grief for our animal companions.

Bailey's uplifting story of his bucket list journey was shared on the world-wide Animal Planet Blog called the Dodo, it was shared across 100 countries and translated into 7 languages. People from the UK, Spain, Africa, US, Fiji, and even Japan wrote to us sharing their stories of love with their animal companions that once walked by their side, now forever in their hearts.

#Rescue #adopt #qualityoflife #petdeathdoula #endofliferitual #AnimalReiki