ministering to people and their pets

Following up on last week's post on churches helping shelter animals, last year the Humane Society of the United States posted a surprising and inspiring article from their All Animals magazine by Jim Baker, "Tent Revival: A Free Veterinary Clinic Helps Church Minister to Needy New Orleans Residents."  It tells of evangelical congregation Church of the King's offering of veterinary services, alongside medical and dental services from other volunteers, to low-income residents in the inner city.

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new limbs (and a brace) for pets

As promised, following up on Stephanie's post from a couple of days ago on amazing animal prosthetics, here are a few more stories of pets who were given a new lease on life through incredibly inventive and compassionate technology ...

The first was shared by an old seminary friend, Adam Short.  I was floored when I took in the report of Oscar the cat who lost his back feet in a horrific farm accident, but was given hardly fathomable but amazingly effective new legs by Gordon Blunn of University College London. 

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animal experimentation, can we find better alternatives?

This post continues an excellent overview of toxicological testing on animals by community member Sharon Sigethy Coughlin, who has past professional experience in the field (though please know that the views below don't necessarily represent those of the EPA or the ATSDR).  Part one focused on the background of toxicology testing, and she asks in this post whether there might be a better way forward?

alternatives to animals testing

Scientists recognize that animals have significant biological differences from humans.  Due to this, and due in part to public outcry, much less animal testing is done today than had been done previously.  Today, nursing students practice on oranges (the fruit!) or on other students when learning to give injections with needles.  Veterinary schools may still use animals to practice surgical techniques, but hopefully medical schools are using human cadavers.

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a sense of guilt ...

Following up on yesterday's post, Croatian artist Lidija Ivanek (whose imaginative work we've featured previously) writes a very honest and encouraging note about her own wrestling with the question whether caring for animals is a worthy calling for Christians ...

When I was growing up, I always wanted to be near animals.  But that was often impossible.  My family lived in a flat, and my father, well ... he didn't like the smell, the fur, the dust, etc.  Then I became a veterinarian, but it seemed that all around me, all the time, there were people who didn't approve of my love for animals, or my care for them in a gentle and loving way. 

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not one sparrow and bravehearts

Earlier this year I received an email from a not one sparrow reader in South Africa, Cherie Sindall, and we quickly struck up a running conversation.  Cherie's story of decades of faithful work among the animals and people of her adopted homeland, despite intense seasons of economic and other need (including recent months), impacted me deeply. 

We'll be sharing more of Cherie's amazing story and experiences in the coming months, but as not one sparrow is celebrating our 2nd anniversary this week, I tentatively asked if she might be willing to introduce herself and share a bit about how not one sparrow has been an encouragement to her and her work.  I'm deeply grateful to Cherie for doing so, and for the steadfast encouragement she has been to me, and to our community ...

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animals in Haiti

My heart breaks every time the thought of Haiti even crosses my mind, let alone another individually tragic report crosses the newswire.  So many vital humanitarian responses are in urgent need of support, and I did want to mention an important one being conducted by missionary friends from my college days at Moody Bible, Jarod Ebenhack and Matt McCormick. 

But in the vein of not one sparrow, we also need to shed some light on the plight of Haitian animals in the aftermath of the earthquake.  Please know that that a collaborative response is being coordinated by the International Fund for Animal Welfare and the World Society of the Protection of Animals, called the Animal Relief Coalition for Haiti.  Humane Society International and Best Friends are also participating in the collaboration.  The following is from an IFAW update sent today:

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perspective on vets and pet suffering

Good friend Nancy Janisch sent me the following thoughts in response to my reflections on Bubba's sickness and passing, and generously granted permission to share them here ...

To say I enjoyed your posts on the loss of Bubba would not be correct, but I did appreciate them.  They brought back a lot of memories for me, memories from the "other side" of the exam table.  Your series reminded me how hard it was to tell someone we couldn't set up a payment plan because we'd been burned too often.  It's true.  People would tell us the saddest stories about why they couldn't pay, and how they would either be right back (and never come), or leave 'x' amount and make further payments (and never do so). 

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introducing the companion animal suffering & grief support group

I've hoped for a while now that not one sparrow could offer a safe place for our community to share the grief of losing a pet, and struggles of coping with their illnesses.  To that end, we're very pleased to be able to introduce not one sparrow's Companion Animal Suffering & Grief Support Group.  The group is hosted on Facebook (which for now is the most functional and accessible venue), and here's an introduction from our info page:  

"When our companion animals suffer it can be a very stressful and emotional time, and the pain and loss of saying goodbye can be staggering.  Having known the depth of these griefs ourselves, we hope this will be a place where you can share your own struggles and loss, as well as memories and tributes to your fallen friends, even their caretakers.  We pray you will find empathy and comfort from other Christians who care deeply for animals, and also find the grace to share sensitively in return."

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a pet grief observed

Updated on January 12, 2010 by Ben DeVries

If you've followed along with Bubba's tribute to this point, both the happy memories and the tragic, thank you sincerely.  I know it was a difficult read at points, and I'm sorry it ran even longer than expected.  Thank you for reading, and for identifying with the pain and the loss.  So many of you have experienced the same, in some cases many times over, and I'm so sorry for that. 

There was even more about the moments before and after Bubba's death I'd wanted to share, but I found a journal entry from a couple days later which sums up the experience up fairly well.  I hope sharing this doesn't seem self-serving, but that it helps normalize the depths which the loss of a companion animal can take us to, in agony and emptiness, and in brokenhearted faith ... 

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goodbye to a good, good cat

This marks the conclusion to Bubba's story, which began with "A Good, Good Cat."  The last post, "A Good, Good Cat Takes Sick," mentions how his health complications began.  I found a journal entry describing some of my grief after he left us, and prayer, and will share that as a last personal reflection ...

Cheryl’s parents not only offered to loan us the money for Bubba’s urgently needed surgery, to our immense relief and gratefulness, but only days later even wrote it off as a gift.  As soon as we had arranged payment, the vet and techs immediately prepared Bubba for the catheterization procedure that same evening.  I left a few minutes later, emotionally and physically exhausted, and not completely at ease because of the vet’s warning that urinary blockages often if not usually returned in male cats, sometimes a few years later, and sometimes even within a matter of days.  But I was relieved we were able to give Bubba a chance at this desperate juncture, and just hoped we’d be able to again down the road by our own means should a blockage reoccur.

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