Thank you to the thoughtful anonymous donor who provided us with THREE brand new pet strollers Thursday! We delivered them to People Assisting the Homeless (PATH) on Sunday, and already one lucky dog is riding in safety with his mom again.

The vet concluded that Hansen was suffering from arthritis and breathing issues. His mom was able to walk out of the clinic with the medication Hansen needed to alleviate his pain and get on the mend.

“Thanks to The Bark Avenue Foundation, we could afford medication to provide our little Hansen with pain relief and understand how to adjust his lifestyle to prevent further health complications. We appreciate this organization and everything they’re doing to help keep families together! Thank you so much for serving our community and blessing my family during these hard times.”

And thank YOU, to all who contribute to BAF. Your light shines on, brightening the lives of pets and their families, giving them hope and good health.

Check us out on social media to see where your contributions go, and the difference you make in the lives of those in need.

https://www.facebook.com/BarkAveFoundation

https://www.instagram.com/barkavenuefoundation/?hl=en

Every one of these events has a huge turnout, but the Pet Pantry and Wellness Day at the Crenshaw YMCA on March 20th was extraordinary. While a few dozen people and their pets pre-registered in each area for wellness checks, hygiene services and spay & neuter, hundreds drove up to receive pet food. Countless more people and pets stood in line (safely 6 feet apart, of course) to receive leashes, tags, toys, microchips and to stand by for immediate services onsite if any of the pre-registered appointments were not able to be there.

As always, we were at our booth, greeting pet parents, handing out goodies, providing resources, making referrals, and taking sign-ups for future spay & neuter surgeries. Because  mobile clinics were not authorized for months during the pandemic this past year, and brick & mortar clinics had to cease or reduce operations due to new protocols, there is still a tremendous backlog of people wanting to spay & neuter their pet, but they are finding it challenging to get access to the free/low cost care.

By the end of the day, we had filled six pages of sign-ups. The need–and the desire–for services in this community is so great, that the organizations made an unprecedented decision on the spot: to return for a Spay Day with two spay and neuter providers on May 15th, to double the impact and provide service for all those that came out and signed up!

We are grateful to all our supporters who allow us the opportunity to join with the Crenshaw YMCA and Michelson Found Animals to provide assistance along with Spay4LA, Latino Alliance for Animal Care Foundation (LAACF) and Home Dog LA, to truly make a difference in the community for pets and their people.

Our impact is so much greater when we work with other organizations. With them and you, our faithful supporters, we are better together! Thank you for bringing hope to so many!

Since this is responsible pet parent month, it is a great time to assess  what your pet needs. Take them to a wellness exam to make sure they’re healthy; license them with your city, and make sure they are microchipped and that their microchip profile is up to date with your most current contact information. Teach your pet something—anything. From basic manners to more elaborate skills, knowledge is power, and keeps your companion happy and engaged. Provide enrichment for your pets: playing games together, teaching, and going for walks give them purpose and stimulation. All that you do to be responsible is just another way to show your pet you love them. And what could be more fun than that?

If you need assistance, community pet pantries are in your community to help. LA Animal Services runs a pet pantry at East Valley and Chesterfield Square https://www.laanimalservices.com/petfoodpantry/ and Michelson Found Animals provides pet food through their Better Neighborhood Project https://www.foundanimals.org/better-neighbor-project/.  Other pet pantries include: Fix N Fidos, Paws LA, and Home Dog LA. 

Animal welfare has always been a cause close to Henry’s heart, as he shares his home with a diverse array of species: two dogs named Bagel and Podo, Ahsoka the cat, Rex the chameleon, Skittles the rainbow gecko, and two pigs: Petunia and Olive. And his love of animals extends to those in the wild as well.  While it is early to be locking into a career, Henry’s current life goals include becoming an animal conservationist in Madagascar.  But since that is still many years away, Henry is striving to make a difference for animals here and now.

And he’s doing just that by adding a new layer onto his business model: charitable chocolates. We are so grateful to Henry for choosing Bark Avenue Foundation as one of his first non-profits in which to contribute to! For every purchase of Dark Chocolate Almond “Bark”, a portion of the proceeds will benefit Bark Avenue Foundation.

Henry hasn’t decided when he will rotate in other non-profit products or if he’ll keep them all up long term, so get them while you can! Please go to www.getsweethenrys.com, and choose Dark Chocolate Almond “Bark” to contribute to Bark Avenue Foundation.

We look forward to tracking Henry’s success in business and life as a warrior for animal welfare and are honored to be a part of his journey. Thank you, Henry!

But the most important thing offered thanks to you is resources and hope. We signed up dozens of pets for free future spay and neuter surgeries, and provided referrals for those pets with medical needs. We also spoke to people about their pets and addressed their needs and concerns, helping wherever we could.

Each year Homeboy Industries welcomes 10,000 former gang members and previously incarcerated men and women through their doors, to help them redirect their lives with job skills, employment, tattoo removal, community, and kinship. We are so grateful to be able to offer assistance to their beloved companions as they transition into a brighter future.

And while we were meeting and speaking with so many new people, a representative from LA County Supervisor Hilda L. Solis’s office paid us a visit to give commendations to Bark Avenue Foundation and Home Dog LA for our work in the community. But the work we do is actually YOUR work. We are humbled and honored to be able to do so much for the community on behalf of you, our loyal supporters. We commend YOU for making this work possible. Your contributions and donations are what allow us to reach so many people and their pets in need!

There is no right or wrong way to grieve. A pet is not a piece of expensive furniture broken. A pet is not a prized possession or family heirloom fallen down a drain. A pet is family–as much as any human blood relative is.

When my first dog died at only seven years of age, and me at the age of ten, it was the most devastating loss I had ever felt. I held her tennis ball all night, and woke in the morning unable to open my hand as the muscles clenched tight to it, as if I was holding onto her soul, defying its need to be set free.

When my dog Dutchess passed to the other side, she made sure I was nowhere near. While boarding a connecting flight on my way back across the country from being home for the holidays, she took her last breath. When my father called that night to tell me, a part of me already knew. I thought I was fine. I had said my goodbyes. But the next morning, I was unable to get out of bed. My soul wracked with guilt for not being there, my heart hurting so badly I could not breathe, and the tears flowing so freely, I could not see.

Lately, it is my dog’s best friends and my friends’ companions and soulmates who have left this earthly existence. Some went quietly into the night of their own accord; others have needed help to cross over. Neither is any easier than the other. While we may wish that euthanasia was an option for ourselves when the time comes seeing it as a gift, it hardly seems like one when faced with the decision we must make for our own beloved, loyal comrades.

Some of our friends have lived long lives and came naturally to the end of their path. Others were stricken down, snatched away from us like a song abruptly stopped in the middle of the second verse. It seems unreal. No matter when the ending comes, it is always too soon. No matter how many years we have, we always yearn for one more. No matter how many days we have; we wish and hope for just one more.

One does not “get over” the loss of their pet. Just as our pet is a part of us, so is their death. For a strange thing happens when we love an animal. We give them a part of our heart, and they in return, give us a part of theirs. And so we carry with us a piece of them for all eternity. And when they go, they take a piece of us with them.  In some way, we are never whole again, and yet we are all the better for it, as we evolve into something greater than a whole—a patchwork of hearts, a grand soul ever entwined with another.

Some believe that animals are able to cross over, walk among the dead, and return. They see ghosts. They sense things on other planes of existence. And so is death the same for them? Or have they just finished their tenure here on this plane with us, and they continue on in all the other dimensions, romping and playing, loving and living one moment at a time?

One moment. Each moment. That is what they give us. They give us their every moment, to prove to us just how important each one is. Every moment of love lasts an eternity. While their earthly existence may be short, living in the moment allows them to live a hundred lifetimes in each trip we take around the sun.  But even with that ability, they too, grieve the loss of their friends and loved ones when they pass. They are not immune to loss. It is they who teach us to love with such grandeur, and so their loss is just as significant—if not more—than ours.

We do not know their philosophies or theologies. Perhaps they have none. Or perhaps each one has their own ideas of whether or not there is an afterlife, reincarnation, or simply returning to the vast energy of the universe from which they were, just for a moment, plucked from and lived a moment in a furry body, loved and doted upon by creatures quite unlike them and yet deep down just like them when given the chance.

To all our friends who are grieving now, and to those who have, and to those who will one day, we send our love, our sympathy, and our empathy. The loss of our beloved companions is a loss so great it is incomparable. There is no timetable from which we must cease mourning. There is no set time in which the loss feels any less great. For the loss, like the love, is always a part of you. For many of us, our pets are  our best friends, our children, our companions, our partners, our teachers, our everything. And so when we lose everything, there is no judgement on how we handle it.

Our journey is our own—our own just between us and our beloved companions.

I don’t believe any pet wants to leave or is truly ready to go. Which may be why so many need help getting there. They do everything in their power to stay as long as possible, for they know that without them, we are lost. We need to assure them that their guidance, their love has led us this far, taught us this much, and that although we will be in pain, we will carry on, as we carry them in our hearts.

And that they are free to go, to be in peace, to no longer suffer the slings and arrows of this earthly existence, and that one day we shall meet again at the Rainbow Bridge, where our hearts will embrace again.

Stephanie Wescott is a freelance writer whose mission is to save animals’ lives through story. Although she hails from New England and resides in Southern California, you’ll mostly likely find her somewhere in between on the open road with her canine companion Tucker, searching for trails to hike and stories to tell. You can follow their tracks and read their tales at www.alltuckeredout.org.

Bark Avenue is proud to partner with Sweet Henry’s Artisan Organic Dark Chocolates to help raise funds for our important work.  Sweet Henry’s is a local chocolate company started by 11 year old Henry.  Henry’s chocolates are vegan and gluten free, fair trade and delicious.  And now a portion of the proceeds from his special edition Dark Chocolate Almond “Bark” benefits Bark Avenue Foundation!  These chocolates would make fantastic Valentine’s Day gifts for the ones you love while supporting our critical work.

“We are proud to once again support Bark Avenue Foundation in its work to keep marginalized communities, such as the homeless, unsheltered and under-resourced, with their beloved pets,” said Jenny Aho, regional relationship manager at PetSmart Charities. “We know many people consider pets as family, and this work ensures Los Angeles area pet parents can provide their pets the necessary care without having to forgo their own resources to do so.”

Read the press release here:
Bark Avenue Foundation – Preserving Families